Ghost Town

Shrouded by mists in seeming perpetuity, Huangyao, Guangxi feels like a place paused in history.

Compared to other ancient towns like Lijiang and Pingyao, Huangyao is exceptionally preserved not only architecturally, but also culturally. Opened up to tourism in the year 2000, the Huangyao we see today has not been demolished physically by an earthquake less than two decades ago and rebuilt into a commercial Disneyland (Lijiang). Nor have the benevolent tourism experts stepped in to evict all the inhabitants for the convenience of visitors (as they did in Pingyao).

This serene town lives on in muted rhythms that gracefully echo the lives and eras of previous generations.

Enclosed by sharply rising karst mountains on all sides, with a winding river burbling through the village, this idyll of rural prosperity boggles the mind as it soothes the senses. It seems nearly every one of the 99,999 slabs of cobblestone laid down in the Ming dynasty are still in place. Rain-wet clusters of clover and moss burst with color and life where worn stone meets stone. Each bridge, temple, couplet and watchtower is immaculately planned and persistently rooted. The old people lounge by the river, wash the vegetables, and sit paring skins or gossiping on their doorstep. They carry babies, feed the hens, smile at you.

Soberingly, the ghosts of the present are among the most haunting and relevant. Ambling through Huangyao's picture-perfect history, it is difficult to encounter anyone of working age - they've all gone to work in the cities. This secluded town's traditional industries (fermented soy beans, 黄精 solomonseal rhizome, and tea) endure, but times have changed. And one dime (一角钱) per villager per day from the tourism development company is not going to get any of these families very far.

The villagers don't want to move and don't want to sell. They realize that they have a special place. So the children play and learn, and the old rest and work, and tell the stories of the beautiful legacy they have inherited.