My wife and I visited Xidi and Hongcun in January 2002 as part of our visit to Huang Shan. We both really loved the villages, as we do everything in China. They have been well-preserved, and what was so amazing is that people actually still live there, surrounded by tourists. It was far better than seeing an empty shell, even though many wanted paying for their photos to be taken! But then, how else can they make a living? I didn't mind that.

A visit here is thoroughly recommended, but be careful if you go outside the normal tourist dates - you have to get a police permit to enter the sites, and it took several hours finding the office and rousing up someone who could arrange the permits.

If you want to see more photos of the villages, have a look at the ever-growing web site of our travels in China: www.tingey.tv