Hu Wenguang archway
Carved stone.
Diego Tirira from Quito, Ecuador — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Francesco Bandarin — CC BY-SA 3.0 igo · Zhangzhugang — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Zhangzhugang — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Diego Tirira from Quito, Ecuador — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Diego Tirira from Quito, Ecuador — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Zhangzhugang — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Zhangzhugang — CC BY-SA 4.0
An old village in Yi County that has shared the «Ancient Villages in Southern Anhui» World Heritage listing with Hongcun since 2000; it was first built between 1049 and 1053 under the Song and was named «West River» for the streams that run through it. It flourished with the wealth of the Hu family, whose members turned to trade in the fifteenth century and later to public office; it peaked in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries with about 600 houses, and more than a hundred old houses still stand. At its entrance rises the sixteenth-century Hu Wenguang memorial archway with its fine stone carving, and its narrow cobbled lanes hold houses with gateways carved in stone, wood and brick, small gardens and decorated windows, some bearing their owners' maxims in calligraphy. Tickets are about CNY 94, with a combined ticket for Hongcun from about CNY 159, per visitor guides. Xidi is quieter and less crowded than Hongcun, and two or three hours are enough.
Carved stone.
Stone, wood, brick.
Narrow and quiet.
Yi County, about 50 km northwest of Huangshan city
Yes, it is quieter and less crowded and known for its stone and wood carving; tickets are about CNY 94, with a combined ticket for Hongcun from about CNY 159, per visitor guides.