Protection breathes new life into village

Photo taken on Jan 19, 2013 shows the scene at dawn after a rainfall in Shicheng village, Wuyuan county, East China's Jiangxi province. [Photo/Xinhua]

With the villagers moved out, Wu and the local government are turning the village into a vibrant tourist destination.

Huangling has about 100 old buildings of Hui-style architecture that feature black roof-tiles and white walls with detailed carvings.

"We have also spent 100 million yuan ($16.33 million) on another 40 similar buildings in the Wuyuan area, disassembled and transported them, to be reassembled here," said Wu, who plans to build a Hui-style architecture conservation and exhibition park.

Wu has invested in local infrastructure, tourism development and promotion.

In the village, a female performer in her 60s dries slices of orange pumpkin and purple eggplants on flat round bamboo baskets that are placed on wooden holders out of a window. In the mountainous area, she is illustrating how past generations used to live.

Flat space for drying crops was never possible in mountainous Huangling Village. Therefore villagers dried crops on bamboo baskets outside their windows.

"I used to dry crops for storage [for winter], now I do it for performance," said the lady surnamed Cao, who used to live in the village. She is one of many former villagers who are now earning from the tourism trade.

"Huangling Village received about 20,000 tourists during the week-long National Day holiday. Not a big number, but I believe the village will be part of the upgraded tourism industry in Wuyuan," Wu said.