Xinzai Village of Shizai Village, Lufeng, Guangdong

Shizai Village is located in the northern part of Lufeng City, Guangdong Province, along the middle and lower reaches of the Luo River. In the first year of the Wude era of the Tang Dynasty (622), ancestors with the surnames Shi, Chen, and Xie quarried stones to build a fortress, hence the village was named Shizai because it was constructed with stones. In the fourteenth year of the Chongzhen era of the Ming Dynasty (1641), Huang Xingcong and his son Huang Zhijian moved to Shizai to settle down. Other surnames gradually moved out, and the Huang clan then undertook large-scale construction, building the defensive fortress village that is now relatively well-preserved in eastern Guangdong. In the thirtieth year of the Kangxi era (1691), another fortress village was built 2 kilometers to the north, called 'He'anli', and the Huang clan of Xinzai originated from Shizai, hence it was also known as Xinzai. The construction of Xinzai took 19 years. The city wall is 400 meters long and over a zhang (3.3 meters) high, filled with gun holes for defense and shooting outwards. The village gates are set to the west, south, and north according to their orientation. The main gate and the ancestral hall gate are in a straight line, facing the Daqi Mountain and Jianfeng (Wumian Ridge) in the distance. The village covers an area of 11,648 square meters, with the Huang clan ancestral hall at the center, a spacious square in front, and two 'Nine-Room Buildings' behind. On both sides of the ancestral hall are 'Eight-Room Houses', with residential buildings laterally protected, and two open spaces left between them and the 'Nine-Room Buildings', known as 'Dragon's Eyes'. The residential buildings built around the village wall embrace and protect, forming a grand architectural complex. In November 2008, it was rated as one of the first 'Ancient Villages in Guangdong Province'. In December 2012, it was rated as a 'Traditional Chinese Village'. In May 2013, it was rated as an 'Ancient Chinese Village'; in April 2014, it was rated as a 'Chinese Historical and Cultural Famous Village'; in August 2015, it was rated as a 'Model Village for Rural Tourism in China'.