Next Stop: Taoping Village, a timeless tapestry of culture and nature

Taoping Village, nestled in the embrace of Lixian County in Aba Zang and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Sichuan Province, is an important settlement for the Qiang ethnic group, one of China's oldest ethnic minority groups. This village, embraced by mountains, carries a deep heritage of 3,000 years of Qiang culture. In 2024, Taoping Village stood out in the United Nations World Tourism Organization's "Best Tourism Villages" competition, successfully making the list as the first village in Sichuan to receive such an honor.

Taoping Village preserves the world's most intact ancient Qiang architectural complex, featuring fortress-style dwellings that combine watchtowers and residential buildings, a natural air-conditioning-like underground water network that can adjust the in-house temperature, and maze-like alleys that vividly present the traditional settlement pattern of the plateau of northwest Sichuan.

Taoping Village has also made remarkable contributions to cultural preservation. Here, intangible cultural heritage such as Qiang watchtower building techniques, sheepskin drum dances, Qiang love songs, and mouth harps have been nurtured. The village adheres to a balanced approach of both protection and inheritance, implementing measures like village regulations and cultural ecological protection planning to comprehensively monitor, evaluate, and safeguard cultural resources.

Besides, Taoping Village boasts enchanting natural scenery. Surrounded by mountains and babbling streams, it feels like stepping into a beautiful landscape painting. Every year, thousands of tourists come here to experience Qiang customs and taste the unique flavors of Qiang cuisine.

In recent years, Taoping Village has been actively developing green tourism. They have improved tourism infrastructure, built agricultural demonstration parks, and transformed traditional agriculture into a tourism model focused on leisure, sightseeing, and fruit picking. Now, Taoping Village's ecological orchards have become a popular check-in spot for visitors.

Overall, Taoping Village is not only a place full of poetry and culture but also a model of rural revitalization. Here, history and modernity intertwine; tradition and innovation collide. Every step is a taste of history, and every corner bears the imprint of culture.

For more:

Next Stop: 'Mushroom cottages' surrounded by cascading rice terraces

Next Stop: Fujian Tulou, connecting people through earthen fort-like buildings

(Cover image designed by Li Yueyun)