Unveiling a hidden gem

Zhang Haigen, village head [Photo provided to China Daily]

"It took about one day to walk to the town before the road was completed. This was because there was a cliff on the way. So, if we wanted to go to the town, we had to go past the cliff," says Yue Xianlai.

Yue Xianlai's father fell off the cliff during one such journey and lost his life.

Speaking of the original plan to settle in the remote area, Zhang says: "Yue Lin made the right decision, as the village is like an island protected by formidable mountains."

Even the Mongolians, Manchurians, and Japanese, three main invaders and occupiers in northern China after 12th century, did not manage to get to the village.

If their ancestors knew about Yue Fei's rehabilitation 27 years after they settled there and left the area, many families would have become victims of the later wars, the villagers say.

Zhang Jianlu, Zhang Haigen's 76-year-old father, says: "Before the road was built, we just did not want to go outside the village, fearing that people outside would bully us."

Speaking of how access changed things in the village, Zhang Haigen says: "We started learning about what happened over the past 800 years (history) only beginning from the late 1990s.

"But our earlier education gave us a good foundation to adapt to modern life."

When the first visitors came to the village about 15 years ago, they were very interested in learning about us, and vice versa, says Zhang Haigen.

"The villagers did not even understand the concept of buying and selling at that time."

But together with the road came electricity and travelers.

Now, most young people go to work in cities, leaving only the elderly in the village.

Contact the writers through liyang@chinadaily.com.cn