Chengkan village is surrounded by mountains and famous for its wooden houses with elegant black tile roofs and a stretch of wonderful lotus ponds.
The famous Song Dynasty (960-1279) Confucian scholar Zhu Xi praised it as the best village in Jiangnan, the region south of the Yangtze River.
A view of the lotus ponds in Chengkan village. [Photo by Zhu Liya]
The name of the village is from I Ching, or Book of Changes, one of the oldest philosophical works in China, symbolizing yin and yang in traditional culture.
A panoramic view of Chengkan village. [Photo by the culture, tourism and sports bureau of Huizhou district]
The eight mountains surrounding it are believed to form the eight directions of the Eight Diagrams, or Bagua – symbols used in Taoist cosmology. Together with the river winding its way to form the letter "S", they comprise a natural diagram of tai chi, which makes the place a geomantic treasure.