According to the Shaanxi Provincial Department of Culture, the Ministries of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, Culture, and Finance recently released a second list of “Traditional Chinese Villages”.

A total of 915 Chinese villages, out of which eight are in Shaanxi Province, were listed after preliminary local assessments and recommendations, and the review of China's Traditional Village Protection and Development Research Center.

In addition to the five previously-included ones, Shaanxi now has thirteen villages labeled as “Traditional Villages”.

Wang Jiankang, the Director of the Institute of Rural Development of the Shaanxi Academy of Social Sciences, noted that listing a village means shouldering the responsibility of preserving its cultural essence, inheriting its folk art and renovating its ancient architecture.

At present, Wang said, efforts must be made to archive information on the “Traditional Villages”, lay out plans for their protection and development,and explore protective restoration pilot projects so as to conserve “Traditional Villages” in a good fashion.

Around the world, there are a good number of places which exemplify the success of promoting tourism by relying on a distinctive ancient architecture. Venice, for instance, funds the maintenance and reparation of time-honored buildings with a massive tourist income, thus nicely preserving its traditional building.

Yang Zhongwu, the Director of the Shaanxi Tourism Administration, asserted that Shaanxi should capitalize on the opportunities of traditional village protection to improve and refine its cultural and tourist products. Meanwhile, using the abundant natural resources in southern, central and northern Shaanxi, the construction of cultural and tourist townships can be accelerated, so as to turn “Beautiful Shaanxi” into an attractive brand.

Zhang Jinqiu, an Academician from the Chinese Academy of Engineering, claimed that only when a building or a group of buildings possesses special historical, artistic and scientific value must it be protected. When preserving traditional villages and historic buildings, China should give consideration to both economic benefit and the protection of cultural heritage.

Zhang also exposed what he considers to be a good method of preserving old buildings. The academician claimed that ancient buildings in Europe were set up layer by layer with masonry, so that they used to be dark and wet inside. Yet the Europeans always observe the principle of retaining the art value and keeping the appearance and style unchanged while modernizing the interior facilities, so that people nowadays can live comfortably in these buildings.

In Shaanxi, Zhang pointed out, Dangjia Village in Hancheng City, Heyi Village in Yulin City and Shenquan Village in Jia County have managed to reserve a good many traditional houses and yards. When renovating them the example of well-preserved European villages should be drawn upon, incorporating modern facilities into traditional buildings to add comfort for the residents.

The first list of “Traditional Chinese Villages” had been published at the end of 2012, with 646 villages included.

Translated by Chen Mirong

Revised by Gabriele Corsetti