Tonglu County (桐庐县) is located in the northwestern part of Zhejiang Province. It has the geological advantages of being surrounded by mountains on four sides and being at the confluence of Fuchun River (富春江) and Fenshui River (分水江).
“Tonglu is a landscape painting. The beauty of Tonglu can be spotted in the exquisite ‘Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains (富春山居图)’ by the famous painter, Huang Gongwang (黄公望), while the beautiful villages dotting in it is the most brilliant oil color in this landscape painting”.
From the distant and ancient legends of Fuchun River to the Jiangnan customs that are handed down, from the exquisite Tonglu paper-cut to the vigorous and strong Shen’ao High-Altitude Lion Dance (深澳高空狮子), from the benevolent Tongjun Traditional Chinese Medicine Culture (桐君中药文化) to the ingenious traditional architecture design and construction techniques (Tonglu traditional building group construction technique), from the charm of She Village March 3rd Festival that is full of She Minority characteristics to Tonglu traditional feast ... Tonglu has undergone many social changes, cultural transformations and the baptism of civilizations, and during the process, it has accumulated profound history and abundant intangible cultural heritage.
Route Itinerary
DAY 1
1st stop: We will come to “Shen’ao Ancient Street (深澳古街)”. Here, you will see the embodiment of traditional architectural construction techniques (Tonglu traditional building group construction techniques). It is characterized by white walls, black tiles, horse-headed walls, deep lanes, old streets, and a complex underground water system.
It is the epitome of the thousand-year-old ancient town, and has rich folk customs, unique water resources, huge ancient building groups and profound clan culture. It is a village complex integrating both tangible and intangible cultural heritage.
In front of the ancient and rustic cultural auditorium, you can watch the Shen’ao High-Altitude Lion performance where lions jump up and down.
With the pull of lines, two lions jump up and down, vying for the embroidered ball on the bamboo racks.
You can also make a colorful lantern of your own under the instructions of Shen’ao colorful lantern-making technique inheritor, learn about the history of colorful lanterns through the interpretation of the inheritor and ignite the enthusiasm for the quintessence of traditional Chinese culture and the inheritance of handicrafts.
On the Shen’ao Ancient Street, you can also experience many traditional intangible cultural heritage techniques such as Shen’ao wood steelyard making and cotton fluffing.
2nd stop: We will come to “Dipu Village (荻浦村)” to fully understand the long history and cultural connotation of “Jiangnan Seasons”, and taste the seasonal delicacies of Jiangnan.
The Dipu Village takes the “filial piety” culture as the core. Here, you can experience its unique filial piety culture.
We can also come to “Huigang Clean Governance Paper-Cut Museum (翙岗廉政剪纸馆)” to appreciate the clean governance-themed paper-cuts and feel the charm of paper-cut, that is, a pair of scissors and a piece of paper are enough to express the joy, anger, sadness and happiness of one’s life.
In “Dipu Ancient Opera Stage”, you can listen to the beautiful singing of Tonglu Yueju Opera, which stuns the world and brings people the image of the familiar "Land of Peach Blossoms" in people’s dreams.
DAY 2
1st stop: We will come to “Hecun Village (合村)”. Here, there are mountains, paddy fields, gurgling streams, deep canyons and fresh air. You will see beautiful scenery everywhere.
Here, you can also experience Hecun Village tile engraving technique, and experience the distinctive charm of Hecun tile engraving folk culture.
At noon, you can taste the special Hecun Village Duan’guo Dish (合村端锅菜) and its customs. The dish has a long history in Hecun Village and is a must-have on the table of every household in Hecun Village.
After the meal, you can learn to make Hecun embroidered shoes under the instructions of the intangible cultural heritage inheritor.
During the process of stitching and embroidering shoes, you can feel the history that is associated with the embroidered shoes more deeply.
In the afternoon, you can head to the “Red Lantern Rural Land (红灯笼乡村家园)” in Yaolin Town (瑶琳镇), visit rural landscape such as tea and wine shops, theaters, story-telling houses and ancestral temple, and experience the demonstration of all sorts of workmen, variety shows, bucket making, bamboo strips making, operas and other rural street and market landscape.
DAY 3
1st stop: We will tour around “E’shan Town (莪山乡)” and walk by the limpid stream. From time to time, you will see villagers wearing She Minority clothes smiling at you friendly, and you can listen to the melodious She Minority folk song coming from the distant mountains...
She people are good at drinking wine and have had the custom of brewing Hongqu Wine (红曲酒) in autumn and winter since ancient times.
In E’shan Town, you can experience the She Minority Village Hongqu wine (红曲酒) brewing technique that is handed down from generation to generation by hardworking She people, and listen to the stories of wine brewers and Hongqu wine.
Besides, you can experience She Minority wedding customs, She Minority Wushu, E’shan March 3rd Festival and other unique ethnic culture and customs to feel the distinctive charm of She Minority culture at close range.
At noon, in the unique Long Bench Feast, you can experience the highest-level ethnic etiquette that She people used to entertain guests coming from afar, taste the delicacies made with She Minority traditional snack making technique and have a gluttonous feast.
After the meal, you can also in the She Minority Colored Ribbon Museum (畲族彩带馆) experience She Minority colored ribbon weaving technique, which is the “living fossil” that is handed down by She Minority, carry the blessings of She Minority ancestors, and retain the original “ideogram” intact. It is the artware with the most ethnic characteristics in the resplendent She Minority culture and is the living fossil of She Minority culture.