New year and new look in Banpo Village

This is a view of Banpo Village, Pingtan Township, Tongdao Dong Autonomous County, Hunan Province.

Photo by Yu Chunsheng

This is a view of Banpo Village, Pingtan Township, Tongdao Dong Autonomous County, Hunan Province.

Photo by Yu Chunsheng

In the early morning after the rain, when you walk into Banpo Village, Pingtan Township, Dong Autonomous County, Hunan Province, the moist air carries the chill of early spring, and it is very refreshing if you take a deep breath.

As a traditional Dong village with a history of nearly 400 years, Bnapo Village has been forgotten in the deep and empty valley for a long time in the past. "In those days, the village was all mud roads, villagers built private buildings to raise livestock, and it was difficult to see that it was actually an ancient village with a long history." Ou Xun, the secretary of the party branch of the BanpoVillage, told reporters.

But now, the metamorphosis is happening in this small mountain village. "We pay great attention to the protection and utilization of Dong cultural relics, the village has many traditional Dong buildings, and we advocate villagers to try to preserve the Dong architectural style when building houses, so that the village can recreate the beauty of the Dong countryside." Ou Xun said.

People also use local materials such as bamboo, wood, mud-brick, old tiles and cobblestones to build a number of "micro landscapes" such as micro vegetable gardens and micro ponds from roads, ditches, fences and other spaces in the village. The environment has become more beautiful, and there are more tourists. According to Ou Xun, during the Spring Festival this year, hundreds of tourists came to visit the village every day to spend the New Year with the villagers and experience the traditional customs of the Dong people.

Chinese source: Xinhua

Translated by Rednet International Communication Center