I was born in Huizhou without previous life.

I was born in Huizhou without studying in my previous life, which was said by a local tour guide when I traveled to Anhui. Huizhou is located in the depths of the mountains in southern Anhui, and the traffic is extremely inconvenient. The land is barren, and every family only lives by growing tea. If you are poor, you will change your mind. If you can't live at home, you will want to go out and take a break. In the middle and late Qing Dynasty, most Anhui people were doing business in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, generally dealing in tea. People in other places, when their business is done and they make money, start to go home to repair their ancestral homes. The ancient villages here are very well preserved.

I first sketched the Huizhou architecture in a small village. That small village has not yet been used as a tourist project, and every family has retained its traditional life. We sat in a small pavilion in the village, under which was a small bridge. It is said that this pavilion was built in the Southern Song Dynasty. After more than a thousand years of war, it stood firm.

The layout of this village pays great attention to geomantic omen. From the orientation of the house to the layout of the courtyard, it is strictly in accordance with Feng Shui. There is a family that belongs to the largest and most luxurious house in the village. The door is facing a mountain. In order to avoid taboo, a peach tree was specially planted in the courtyard wall. When the peach blossoms, the flowers just stick out of the window. It is said that this family has been safe since then.

There is also a small river in the village, and all the layout of the whole village is developed along the river. Every small bridge and every cloister is cleverly arranged. The center of the village is this river, which fully embodies the style of one mountain and one water. The architecture of the whole village fully embodies the principle of geomantic omen in architecture.

In Huizhou, I visited several places, and almost all residential villages are following the principle of geomantic design. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why Huizhou people can be rich.