In Yujiacun village, of a 0.25 square kilometer area, run 3,500 meters of stone paths, and more than 4,000 stone houses. [File photo]

The common feature of houses in these ancient villages in the Taihang Mountains is the stone of which they are built. This architectural style is particularly noticeable in Yujiacun.

This is the sole village that requires an entrance ticket. It was built by the descendants of Yu Qian, an officer loyal to the Ming Dynasty and also a poet. He wrote: "I'm not afraid of anything, even being burned, because I want to be an honest man." He was true to his word, and heroically protected the Forbidden City during a siege by the Oirat Mongols in the 16th century.

Yu Qian's eldest grandson left the capital with his family during the reign of Ming Emperor Chenghua and moved to what is now the village of Yujiacun. So far, 24 generations of Yu have lived here. Yu Qian's descendants dug quarries and used the local stone to build their homes, build terraced fields, and carve stone tools.

The Cool and Refreshing Pavilion at the village entrance is a stone replica of a wooden pavilion. Two storied, the pavilion's exterior and interior columns, beams and brackets are all of stone, giving it an extraordinarily elegant ambience. It is classified as a key cultural relic under state protection.

The village constitutes a museum of stone art. In this village, of a 0.25 square kilometer area, run 3,500 meters of stone paths, and more than 4,000 stone houses, a thousand of which still retain their original Ming and Qing dynasty structures. Ninety percent of its inhabitants are descendants of the Yu family. Their traditional lifestyle, far from the big city hustle, has been well preserved.