Liede, a village in Guangzhou's Tianhe district that has a history of over 900 years, started its transformation efforts in 2007 and has since become a community renowned for its beauty and high quality of life.

"Liede has a long history and profound culture. With the city's continuous development, Liede has experienced two great changes - one is the construction of Zhujiang New Town and the other is the completion of the whole village's transformation," said Li Chiying, chairman of the board of Liede Economic Development Co.

In September 2010, Liede villagers moved into modern residential communities, which boast big clusters of trees and flowers that attract large herds of birds. They also possess leisure areas, swimming pools, cultural activity centers, kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, as well as community hospitals.

The river, stone bridge, and dragon boats mingle with tall buildings in the distance in perfect harmony. [Photo/New Express]

"After the transformation, Liede was really integrated into Zhujiang New Town, attracting many people to live, work, and start businesses in the village," said Li Shiwei, a person in charge at Liede Economic Development Co.

He added that the continuation of traditional culture is also a key point in the transformation of the ancient village.

The Liede village ancestral hall area, Liede ancient cultural street, the historical and cultural street along Liede River, and the Qiaodong villager reconstruction area are connected through the water system formed by the Pearl River, Liede River, as well as Longzhou Lake.

In addition, various cultural and sports activities based on traditional culture are carried out to enrich people's cultural life in the village. At the Dragon Boat Festival in 2019, Liede built two new dragon boats, one of which was specially made for women in the village. Its women's dragon boat team won first prize at the Guangzhou international dragon boat invitation tournament the same year.

Liede also focuses on cultural development. The "Liede Home" was put into operation in December 2020. It is a comprehensive service place that integrates the functions of family doctor service station, volunteer service station, village historical museum, intangible cultural heritage inheritance room, and library.

The village historical museum displays over 200 historical materials and collections to introduce the history and development of Liede in detail.

Chen Huijun is from a martial arts family in Zhaoqing and started teaching Liede children kung fu in 2015 and lion dance in 2018 after she got married there. [Photo/New Express]