Dangjiacun

The Dang family made money moving goods on the Yellow River trade during the Ming and Qing and built their village in a sheltered hollow below the plateau, with more than a hundred courtyard houses of grey brick and carved timber, an ancestral hall, a village gate tower, a pagoda and a stone stele pavilion. Because the hollow lies off the main routes and the village lost its wealth, little was rebuilt or demolished, so the layout and much of the fabric survive as they were, with carved door screens, brick relief panels and family mottoes cut above the entrances. Residents still live in many of the houses.

What you actually see

• The courtyard houses - over a hundred Ming and Qing merchant homes.
• The carved detail - brick relief, timber screens and inscribed mottoes.
• The ancestral hall and pagoda - the village's communal buildings.
• The hollow setting - the sheltered site below the loess plateau.

When to go

April to June and September to October; the loess plateau is hot in summer and cold in winter. Weekdays are quiet. Morning light works best in the narrow lanes.

Honest expectations

Many houses are private homes, not open, and photographing residents should be asked first. Entry is charged. Hancheng requires a detour from the main Xi'an routes.

Nearby

Hancheng old town lies southwest; the Hukou waterfall is north on the Yellow River.