Zhangzhou Longhai Daimei Ancient Village | The Water 'Zhouzhuang' of Southern Fujian

| The Water 'Zhouzhuang' of Southern Fujian.🌆 In Zhangzhou, Fujian, there is a mysterious ancient village known as the water 'Zhouzhuang' of Southern Fujian—Daimei Ancient Village. 🏞️ Located in Daiwei Village, Dongyuan Town, Longhai City, Fujian Province, it is only 1.5 kilometers from the Zhangzhou Port exit of the Shenhai Expressway, surrounded by Jilong Mountain, Dahao Mountain, and E'lang Mountain, and is 30 kilometers in a straight line from Xiamen and Zhangzhou city center. Daimei Ancient Village is known as the 'First Village of Southern Fujian'👍. It has four distinct characteristics and four types of cultural integration. 📜 With a long history and rich cultural heritage, Daimei Ancient Village is a gathering place for the Chen family. It was founded by Chen Shijin, the 31st descendant of Chen Yuanguang, the founding saint of Zhangzhou, during the Ming Jingtai period (1450), and has a history of more than 560 years. Remarkably, the villagers of Daimei have inherited and carried forward the Neo-Confucianism thoughts of Chen Chun, a high disciple of Zhu Xi, which is particularly evident in the profound humanistic and magical geographical feng shui of the ancient residential buildings. 🏘️ The ancient residential buildings are large in scale and neatly arranged. They are typical 'Minnan red brick buildings' with hard mountain-style curved swallowtail ridges, red tile roofs, red brick walls, and stone foundations. There are a total of 276 residences, including 49 ancient residences from the Ming and Qing dynasties. The entire layout is reasonable and well-planned, earning the praise of 'a plan that governs for five hundred years' in the urban and rural planning circles of Fujian Province👏. 💧 Surrounded by water on all sides, it is an important node of the Maritime Silk Road. Daimei Ancient Village is surrounded by water, with an internal river system extending 3.2 kilometers, encircling the entire village. From an aerial view, it looks like a coiled dragon, hence the name 'water ancient residential buildings'. In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, villagers used this golden waterway around the village to transport agricultural and sideline products to other places for trade, making it an important part of the 'Zhangzhou Maritime Silk Road Culture' with 'Zhangzhou Yuegang' as the leader. 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 It has deep historical ties with Taiwan and Southeast Asia. Since ancient times, the water system of Daimei Ancient Village has been developed, and villagers used the waterway in front of their homes (Nanshi Port) to do business in Taiwan. A branch of the clan settled in Fengshan District, Changhua County, Taiwan, and there are many distributions in Kaohsiung, Tainan, and other places. To this day, the village still preserves the ruins of the 'Taiwan Tomb' and 'Taiwan Temple'. There are also related branches in Malaysia, Singapore, and other Southeast Asian regions. 🚶 Stepping into Daimei Ancient Village is like traveling back to the Ming and Qing dynasties. Walking along the stone-paved roads, the quiet ancient village is free from the hustle and bustle of the city, with over 500 years of heavy historical traces. The river flows quietly, reflecting the ancient residences on both sides, with smoke curling up from the houses on the shore, forming a beautiful pastoral landscape painting🖼️. 🏯 The buildings here are unique, with most ancestral houses being typical Minnan quadrangle courtyards (two-entry four-bay), built with wooden frame structures, bamboo woven walls plastered with paper ash, making them earthquake-resistant. They have stood firm for hundreds of years and multiple earthquakes, making them a miracle in the architectural history of Southern Fujian. 🌳 The century-old banyan trees in the village witness the changes of time. More than ten scenic spots, such as the Tianhou Temple, the front and rear ancestral halls, the Sanwanggong Temple, and the Nanshi Ancient Wharf ruins, accompanied by ancient legends, attract many tourists to visit. Here, you can slow down👣, savor the charm of the ancient village, and feel the peace and beauty of being away from the world. You might even see a cute cat🐱 peeking at you from a corner, or personally experience the mill and taste the delicious pot edge paste made from rice slurry ground in the mill. If you are looking for a paradise to experience a few days of rural life, then Daimei Ancient Village is definitely a good choice🥰.