Longtan Ancient Village | The war-torn Wanjiang and the ancient village that sheltered the refugees.

Longtan Ancient Village is located in the northeast of Tangquan Township, Taihu County, Anqing City, bordering Qianshan County to the east and Yueshi Mountain and Water to the north, hidden in a small corner of the Dabie Mountains. In various online texts, it is classified as a Huizhou-style residential category, but if you take a closer look or take a few walks in the village, you will notice many differences. 1️⃣First, in terms of site selection, Longtan Ancient Village is not large in scale and is located on a slope surrounded by mountains on all sides. Both the cultivated land and the residential area are problematic. Unlike the independent houses in Huizhou villages, the houses here have a stronger sense of adhesion, and the separated alleys are hidden in them, which is difficult to detect. The main skeleton of the village's transportation is two river walkways, mostly paved with bluestone strips or bluestone slabs. Although some sections of the road have lost their ancient charm after being renovated in recent years, the river channel is more prominent as a result. 2️⃣Second, the water potential is an important factor, and some of the public construction of the village is carried out around this. The houses in the village are basically built on a stone platform above the water level. The ancient village with hundreds of people actually has five stone bridges connecting the two banks. What is particularly special is the artificial stone fish in the middle of the river. According to the on-site sign, it was built during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. The local Hu family ancestors piled up stones in the river. Whenever there were mountain floods and heavy rains, they could block the water and divert the water, which played a buffering and protective role on the river. Longtan Ancient Village was rated as a county-level cultural protection unit in 2009 and was upgraded to a provincial-level cultural protection unit in 2012. Although it is not comparable to the ancient villages of the same level in southern Anhui, for the Wanjiang region where ancient architectural remains are scarce, it is also an ancient village that can retain local architectural features. Based on the disaster-prone Wanjiang Basin under the mountain, the ancestors avoided man-made disasters while struggling with nature. In ancient times, there were two ways to enter and exit the mountain village. Whenever there was a war, the villagers would use bamboo and wood to cover the Ming Road for self-preservation, and the dark mountain road was full of traps. The soldiers and bandits and refugees could not find a way, and they were trapped in the mountains and returned. The ancient village is not only quiet in the years, but also a true portrayal of the hardships of the people's livelihood.