Traditional villages construct new lives

In Pingnan county, East China's Fujian province, local officials have sought to revive traditional villages by attracting artists, entrepreneurs and other newcomers. Meanwhile, in the Xizang autonomous region, villagers are being encouraged to renovate their own homes and help build public spaces.

The contrasting approaches reflect a broader shift in China's traditional village conservation, experts said at a professional salon on protecting traditional villages and architecture, part of the 2026 Beijing Culture Forum, held on Wednesday.

Zhang Dayu, president of the Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, traced the evolution of conservation from studying and protecting individual traditional dwellings to preserving whole villages.

"Traditional villages are carriers of China's agricultural civilization and precious historical and cultural heritage," Zhang said.

He said the comprehension of conservation has also expanded from rescuing old buildings to balancing protection with development, with greater attention to residents, traditional skills and lifestyles.

The shift, he said, means conservation should not simply freeze traditional villages in their historical state but allow them to remain living communities.

In Pingnan, Yang Lin, Party secretary of Xiling township, said the local approach has increasingly turned to cultural and creative activities to attract people and generate new vitality in traditional villages.

The initiative has brought artists, designers, entrepreneurs, and other newcomers to places that once faced population loss and decline.

But Yang said restoring old houses alone is not enough to sustain a village. Talent, new business formats and mechanisms that can support long-term development are necessary.

She described the process as turning "flow" into "stay", converting visitors and attractions into reasons to remain in the village. At the same time, she noted, protection planning should come first, with a "one village, one characteristic" mission, rather than large-scale demolition and reconstruction.

Jin Dongxiao, a professor at the China Academy of Urban Planning and Design, offered a more detailed look at how residents can become participants in conservation, drawing on work in Xizang's Nedong district and Zogang county.

His team developed a handbook that guides residents through home renovations, from doors and windows to roofs and sanitation, while household files record existing conditions and planned work. Demonstration households show what can be accomplished.

In one case, villagers first had to remove modern ceramic tiles covering a house. Beneath them were traditional stone walls. For Jin, the exercise challenged the assumption that modern materials are superior to traditional ones.

"One successful demonstration is more persuasive than repeated mobilization," Jin said.

Restoration projects also attract local masons, stoneworkers and carpenters, turning construction sites into places where traditional skills can be practiced and passed on. Villagers and technical teams jointly plan public spaces, with residents participating in construction.

Jin said the key was to return "decision-making rights, construction rights and benefits" to villagers.

"Renovating homes is to retain villagers, co-building the environment is to improve life, and activating heritage is to transmit civilization," he said.

Experts at the salon concurred that a broader definition of conservation should preserve not only historical structures, but also the communities, skills and lifestyles that give traditional villages their character.