Without its homestay program, the few visitors to the miniscule village of Siping would miss out on its collection of brick and wood carvings. Siping lies 30km west of Jinhua and is out of the way enough to stay uncommercial, preserving Qing dynasty ancestral halls arranged in the shape of the Big Dipper for those willing to make the trek to this 700-year-plus town.
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
19.98 MILES
Jinhua Architecture Park is made up of 16 pavilions, designed by international and domestic architects, strung over 2km along the Yìwū River. It was…
16.06 MILES
Traditional Chinese village architecture and feng shui planning have created a village laid out according to the bāguà (八卦, eight trigrams) of the I Ching…
15.93 MILES
This splendid memorial hall overlooking the tàijí diagram pond at the centre of the village is a huge, airy space with a pairing of huge black Chinese…
15.92 MILES
Eight (the number mirroring the eight trigrams of the bāguà) lanes radiate from this pond at the heart of the village. The feng shui symbol of the Zhuge,…
21.26 MILES
There is a lovely big-family feel to this village in Zhejiang Province, and no wonder when virtually everybody is related across a 'Ye' surname family…
21.27 MILES
This hall is central to the village; its front door does not open so its accessible side door faces out onto pyramid-shaped Daofeng Mountain (道峰山, Dàofēng…
0.07 MILES
Wǔjiān Huāxuān is the birthplace of Dai Yinniang, Siping's most famous historical resident, who became an imperial concubine. Flowery brick carvings hang…
21.21 MILES
A signature sight, the Wénchāng Hall contains a portrait of Confucius and an adjacent shrine (土地祠, Tǔdì Cí) to the village god (for good harvests)…
Nearby Zhejiang attractions
0.06 MILES
This historic hall's brick carving, 'Nine Lions Scrambling for a Ball', is remarkable as much for its detail as for its seemingly impudent use of five…
0.06 MILES
Libn Hall is an early Qing dynasty structure with some wood carvings that remain impressively vivid; keep an eye out for the bats (carvings of, that is)…
0.07 MILES
Wǔjiān Huāxuān is the birthplace of Dai Yinniang, Siping's most famous historical resident, who became an imperial concubine. Flowery brick carvings hang…
15.92 MILES
Eight (the number mirroring the eight trigrams of the bāguà) lanes radiate from this pond at the heart of the village. The feng shui symbol of the Zhuge,…
15.93 MILES
This splendid memorial hall overlooking the tàijí diagram pond at the centre of the village is a huge, airy space with a pairing of huge black Chinese…
6. Prime Minister Ancestral Hall
15.96 MILES
This massive old hall contains some impressive carved cross beams in its roof.
16.01 MILES
Tianyi Hall is a pretty structure to begin with but what is more fascinating is the garden in the back, with hundreds of potted plants all used for…
16.06 MILES
Traditional Chinese village architecture and feng shui planning have created a village laid out according to the bāguà (八卦, eight trigrams) of the I Ching…