Shanghai Daily news

Xuancheng, located in the Southeast of East China's Anhui Province, was built in the Song Dynasty (960-1279) and was once one of the most prosperous cities along the Yangtze River.

The town is the birthplace of rice paper (xuanzhi in Chinese), the Huizhou (the ancient name for Anhui) brush pen, ink stick and ink slab, as well as being a cradle of Anhui's splendid culture and traditions.
So 11 of us were filled with curiosity about this not-too-distant region and its past glory when we boarded a tour bus in Shanghai on a clear morning last month.
First stop when we got there was Zhangshan Grand Canyon in Xuancheng's Jixi County, famous for its thousands of weirdly shaped rocks and unspoiled landscape. I was soon climbing up and down flights of stone steps built into precipitous cliffs and running along tree trunks and over precarious rope bridges across the ravine.
The canyon was very quiet with not many visitors about. Sometimes we saw groups of campers pass by - mostly foreigners, said Fang Rongsong, our 24-year-old guide and a native of Xuancheng.
When we finally got close to the exit from the canyon, we met a young couple selling wild Chinese gooseberries. They had three of their children with them and the family was typical of the native hill people - wide, innocent smiles and a pronounced local accent.
The fruit, much smaller than those sold in Shanghai markets, was sweet without the slightest touch of sourness. We paid 2 yuan (25 US cents), and we were surprised to be handed two full bags of gooseberries!
Then we asked where we could find what was left of the "Hui-Hang ancient trading road," a path Anhui merchants once followed to do business in remote places.
"It's over there, just one step further," said Fang, pointing to a narrow dusty footpath. "It's not long and no different from other paths in the canyon."
We stared at it as Fang began elaborating happily on the achievements and fame of his ancestors.
They were a unique lot, he said. They climbed the mountains to leave their barren homeland and went to trade in bordering Zhejiang Province. They prospered and headed the business world of China for more than 300 years.
They first traded in paddy rice and then almost everything found in the region - tea, timber, medical herbs, rice paper and ink slabs. From the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) to the first half of the 20th century, they opened more than 1,200 shops across the country.
One of them was Hu Xueyan (1823-85), the most successful trader in China in his time and whose life story has passed into local legend.
It was hard to imagine that this now neglected narrow path once carried the wagons of wealthy traders and small-scale vendors but there it was, visible proof of an almost forgotten past.
In the afternoon we drove to Longchuan Village, the home of a large family surnamed Hu who have lived there for some 1,600 years.
Laid out in the shape of a boat, the village has a creek - Longchuan - running through its center and it is a cradle of the ancient Huizhou culture.
The old houses are all of typical Hui-style architecture which is characterized by white walls topped with horse-head figurines, dark-blue tiled roofs with upturned eaves and exquisite carvings.
We walked along a flagstone paved street and noticed that many of the houses were also antique stores which were selling porcelain, rosewood furniture and parts of ancient buildings such as window frames and doorsills.
One member of our group, an antique collector also surnamed Hu, bought a large Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) bowl for 1,200 yuan.
"It's undoubtedly a genuine Ming piece," Hu said. "There are probably many similar antiques still hidden in the dusty corners of these ancient houses."
Just ahead of us on the street was an archway erected in 1562 to celebrate the deeds of two of the Hu family's forefathers - a father and son who became ministers during the Ming Dynasty.
The 10-meter-high by 9-meter-wide granite archway is an excellent example of Hui-style architecture with vivid dragons, lions, cranes and deer carved on it as well as some beautiful calligraphy.
The sun began to set as we arrived at the gigantic gate of the Hu family's ancestral temple which covers an area of 1,564 square meters and is the biggest of its kind in East China.
First built in the Song Dynasty (960-1279), the temple and hall were enlarged and underwent restoration in the Ming and Qing dynasties and most of its structure and interior remain intact today.
We marveled at the more than 600 woodcarvings inside the hall, mostly on the wallboards and window frames. Each carving symbolizes the wish of the ancient Chinese family for peace, harmony and happiness. They also show the family's respect for Confucianism - to take care of one's morals, to manage a household well and to help bring peace to the country.
"All the carvings are about fables or traditional doctrines," Fang said. One was of a young man kneeling before his mother and their facial expressions were still visible and lifelike.
When we stepped over the temple's unusually high doorsill and back into the street, we ran into a group of children passing by with schoolbags slung over their shoulders. They said they were heading back to their homes in the village where their mothers had delicious dinners were waiting for them. We smiled. Here the past and present had come together and it's this that makes Longchuan Village an irresistible attraction.
How to get there:
By car, take National Highway 311 and then the Xuan-Guang Highway. The trip may take four and a half hours. Buses are available at the bus centers on Gongxing Road and Hutai Road.
Scenic sites:
Xuancheng has seven districts and counties. Other destinations include the 1,000-year-old village of Jiangcun, Jingting Hill, the China Rice Paper Museum and the largest Yangtze crocodile breeding center in China.
Accommodation:
Two and three-star hotels are located in every district and county. Traditional Hui-style cuisine, one of the eight major cuisines of China that can be traced back more than 1,000 years, are strongly recommended.