Route Map for Part 5：

November 1st, Songyang Old Street - Houshe Village - Shicang Ancient Dwelling - Contract Museum - Shanghai

On the last day of our stay in Songyang, we started with the tranquility of the morning in Songyang Old Street and the delicious traditional breakfast in the old street. After bidding farewell to the old street, we drove to Houshe Village.

Houshe Village is located in the source of the "Houshe'ao" of the Chiyu Pit, a tributary of the Xiaogang River in Zhuyuan Township. Five mountain ridges surround the village in a circular shape, so the village is named "Houshe Village". The village is surrounded by mountains on all sides, and there are hundreds of ancient trees with a tree age of more than a hundred years scattered around the village, forming a group of ancient trees. Among them, there are many famous trees. There is a southern yew with a tree age of more than 500 years and a diameter of nearly 2 meters, which requires four people to stretch out their hands to encircle it. There are more than 20 precious ancient trees above the national third level and more than 500 trees with a tree age of more than a hundred years in the village, and there are tens of thousands of mu of mountain forests. It has a long history and rich natural resources. Houshe Village has beautiful scenery, and every step is a scene, and everywhere is like a painting. The houses are built according to the terrain, one next to the other, with a staggered height, and are built layer by layer towards the top of the mountain, like an open folding fan. On the mountainside, on both sides and above and below the village, there are terraced fields in layers. 

Houshe Village is rich in tea, oil tea seeds, tung oil, dried bamboo shoots, etc. It happened to be the season of autumn harvest and autumn drying. Many farmers were drying various crops at the door, in the courtyard, and on the drying platforms built with wood. 

Houshe Village, an ancient village hidden deep in the boudoir and unknown to the public, not only has a shocking and unique beauty but also has a cultural root that makes people linger...

After leaving Houshe Village, we went straight to the last stop of our ancient village tour: the Shicang Ancient Dwelling Complex. 

Most of the buildings in the Shicang Ancient Dwelling were built during the Daoguang period. The scale of the ancient dwelling is magnificent and imposing, and the brick gate towers are very exquisite. The ancient dwelling complex is built on the mountainside, and each courtyard cleverly uses the mountain terrain for layout, one layer on top of another, in an orderly manner and with clear layers. This is the largest well-preserved ancient residential building complex in the southwestern Zhejiang region and is called the "Architectural Museum in the Southwestern Zhejiang". There are also iron smelting, tofu workshops, and wine workshops inside. It is a place where you can stroll around slowly.

If you want to further understand the various changes and past of Shicang's history, the Shicang Contract Museum is a good choice. 

This is a museum built with stones, built on the mountainside. Above is a lush tea garden, and below are residential houses with mud walls and blue tiles. This kind of wild museum existing in the pattern of "mountains - fields - villages" is rather rare. The various ancient contracts displayed in the Shicang Contract Museum are living fossils for studying ancient culture.

This was the last point of our inspection tour. Then we drove back to Lishui and successfully returned the car at the car rental point at Lishui High-Speed Railway Station. After that, we took the high-speed train in the evening and returned to Shanghai. 

So far, all the ancient villages we wanted to inspect this time have been completed. There were surprises, astonishments, things as expected, and also unexpected things along the way. Although it has been almost a year, the impression left by each village on me is too profound. Finally, 11 months later, I successfully completed the entire inspection report. I hope to share these villages engraved in my heart with you. If you have the opportunity, I hope you can also go and experience their uniqueness and vividness.

Yours Truly

Leena Li - Charmission Travel