Cuandixia Village：Ancient Village in Western Beijing
Cuandixia Village，also known as Mingqing Villageand Guji Village，is the site of an ancientmountain retreat located 90 kilometers outside ofBeijing on the ancient route leading west out of the city.
Cuandixia Village，which retains the ancient character of the Ming and Qing dynasties，is situated to the northup against a mountain and faces south.The village consistsof a patchwork of tall and short buildings and hasbeen called the“Potala Palace”of western Beijing.Theoverall layout of the village is perfectly in harmony withthe natural surroundings.There are 70 courtyard houseson the north-south axis centered on Longtou（Dragon’s Head）Mountain，and the heights of the houses followthe contour of the mountain in the shape of a fan goingdown the mountain.Looking at the village from a distanthill to the south，the village looks very much like a traditionalfan-shaped ingot of silver or gold and at the sametime resembles the yin and yang diagram found at thecenter of the Eight Trigrams.Surrounded by mountains，the village has a typical mountain village environment ofmountains and streams that can be clearly seen from afar.
On November 27，2003 the village was named for inclusionin the first group of Chinese cultural and historicalvillages by the Ministry of Construction and the StateCultural Relics Bureau.
Cuandixia is the residence of the Han clan.The first ofthe family to arrive came from Shanxi during the reign of the Ming Emperor Yongle（1403–1424）over 400 years ago.
The village of Cuandixia（meaning below the bottom ofCuan）is located down from the Ming Dynasty militarymountain pass of Cuanli’ankou，and hence its name.
A total of 76 courtyards have been preserved containing656 residences in the village，which occupies an areaof about 10，000 square meters.The structure of the villageis careful，precise and rational，a jumble of styleswith an overarching theme.A winding street divides thevillage into upper and lower sections.Architectural detailssuch as the stone walls，arched gateways，decoratedscreen walls，engraved bricks，stone carvings and woodsculptures，give the village the feeling of the villages ofsouthern China while retaining the feeling of broad magnificenceof the large courtyard houses of northern China.
The village has retained its original appearance and thecharacter of a Ming or Qing dynasty village in spite ofdrastic changes that have taken place during its centuriesof existence.It is the first fairly well preserved group ofancient dwellings in a northern mountain village discoveredin the country.People say，“For the folk customs and houses of common people，go west of Beijing;to seethe houses west of Beijing，go to Cuandixia.”Most ofthe dwellings in Cuandixia are in the form of courtyardhouses，with the courtyard space basically arranged thesame as those in Beijing and the houses usually arrangedaround the courtyard.The space is carefully ordered sothat within the courtyard feels spacious and from theoutside appears closed off with a distinct central axis.
The usual arrangement is one house facing the south，onehouse facing the north and one to the left and one to theright surrounding a courtyard，but some also have morehouses around the courtyard with a strict hierarchy forthe houses.This kind of carefully planned arrangementof houses in a mountain village is rare among such villages，which are usually more mixed in character.There aremainly three types of courtyard houses in Cuandixia.Thelargest house facing the south in the village has 5 rooms，but most houses facing the south and houses facing thenorth have 3 rooms and left and right houses have 2.Allof the houses are one-level.
The ancient buildings of Cuandixia are rich in culture.
Overall，they are plain and simple but dignified，fully reflectingtraditional Chinese aesthetics.The dwellings are extensively decorated with a combination of engravedbricks，stone carvings，wood sculptures，and calligraphypaintings，but otherwise plain without decoration.Thedesigns of the decorations are rich，varied，and profound，and the workmanship is excellent.Most of them depictplants and animals representing good luck，such as magpies，bats，peonies，lotuses，seedpods of the lotus，andother traditional flowers.The decorations are mainlyconcentrated on the ridges，eaves，wall bases，thresholdstones，door windows，walls，and decorated screen walls.
The decorations also contain a number of auspiciouswords and phrases.The locations，content and quality ofworkmanship varies greatly according to the family’s statusand economic conditions.
The main auxiliary structures found in Cuandixia includeinside and outside decorated screen walls，archeddoorways，posts for tying up horses，stones for mountinghorses，horse sheds，and dog doors.Cuandixia is notlarge and the population is small，but is fairly comprehensive，with the Guandi Temple（Great Temple），NiangniangTemple，and Wudao Temple.
