Chengzi Old Village 城子古村

About Chengzi Old Village

According to Luxi county government, hundreds of tuzhangfang houses are built up the hillside in tiers as a traditional Yi settlement, with the county dating the settlement itself to over 1,000 years and its later Han settlers as having created a distinctive Yi-Han fused local architecture. A separate county tourism-official's report describes more than 1,000 individual tuzhangfang units interlinked end-to-end or side-by-side, calling it the most complete surviving cluster of Yi tuzhangfang in southwest China and a 'living fossil' of residential-architecture culture and construction technique; expert assessment cited by that report dates the tuzhangfang architecture itself to over 600 years.

Surviving named old buildings in the village include the Ang Native Chieftain's Mansion, the General's Residence, and the 'Sisters' Wall'. The village was formerly the seat of the Ming-dynasty Guangxi Prefecture, and in the late Song/early Yuan transition it was the birthplace of the Zigu Kingdom, an ethnic regime. Under national tourism-resource classification standards, the village is rated a Grade 5 tourism resource; since 2008 it has received honours including recognition from the Federation of Asian Photographic Art, inclusion in China's first batch of listed traditional villages, National Geopark status, one of Yunnan's first 105 named characteristic towns, and National Historic and Cultural Village status.

What to look for

• the interlinked tuzhangfang houses built in tiers up the hillside
• the Ang Native Chieftain's Mansion
• the General's Residence
• the 'Sisters' Wall'

Location & getting there

Getting to Chengzi Old Village

Identify the main visitor approach and any separately managed houses, museums or performances. Ask before entering residential spaces or photographing residents.

• Search for 城子古村 with 红河哈尼族彝族自治州 and 泸西县.