Shanggantang Village: 5 places on a hidden mountain route
Explore Shanggantang Village in Jiangyong County, Hunan Province, a 1,200-year-old settlement preserved in the Nanling Mountains on the Hunan-Guangxi border. This interactive route guides you through authentic Ming and Qing Dynasty architecture, the historic Buying Bridge from the Northern Song Dynasty, and traditional village layouts unchanged for over a millennium.
- Mode
- Places
- Start
- Shanggantang Village
- End
- Jiangyong County
- Stops
- 5
- Video author
- travmap
- Updated
Stops on this route
- Shanggantang Village
- Xiemu River — A crystal-clear river flowing through and around Shanggantang Village, used for traditional washing practices and creating the village's natural boundary and scenic backdrop.
- Buying Bridge — A Northern Song Dynasty stone arch bridge nearly 900 years old, partially collapsed but never repaired due to local legend connecting fallen stones to village officials' rise.
- Nanling Mountains — A major mountain range on the border between Hunan and Guangxi provinces, serving as the natural setting and isolation that preserved Shanggantang Village's ancient heritage.
- Jiangyong County — A county in Hunan Province known as the birthplace of Nüshu (Women's Script), the world's only writing system created and used exclusively by women in ancient times.
Video on this route
China’s Lost World: A 1,200-Year-Old Hidden Mountain Village