Preserving the past to finance the future

Officials in rural areas are pondering ways of boosting visitor numbers to prevent some of China's oldest settlements from dying out. However, the plans may produce as many problems as they solve, and change the character of the villages irrevocably. Yan Yiqi reports from Songyang, Zhejiang province.

In the mountainous Southwestern region of Zhejiang province lies Songyang, a county containing more than 100 traditional villages whose geographical isolation has preserved their traditional charm and maintained a style of farming that has been used for centuries.

While most Chinese cities are dominated by tall concrete buildings, the villages in Songyang, with their distinctive yellow mud walls, black and gray roofs and abundant trees, retain an air of unhurried tranquility.