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Rongtang Village
I didn’t know Haikou City, the capital of Hainan Provide, was actually a city surrounded by volcanoes! In a million years to 100 million years ago, there was violent volcanic eruption occurred around the city of Haikou, and the most recent eruption occurred in 10,003 years ago, formed more than 30 large and small ring cup cone crater. If you stand in high-rise of the hotels in Haikou City, looking to the West, you can see the highest peak of Northern Hainan Island: Maanling Crater, with an altitude of 222.8 meters.
The ancient village built with dark gray volcanic rocks
Stone Town in Xiuying District, west of Haikou City, is located in the heart of Northern Hainan Island volcanoes. Here, the crater surrounding tourism development has been carried out, and built a “Haikou Volcanoes National Geological Park”.
Rongtang Village
In fact, Rongtang Village has launched a tourism development plan, but progress is not very smooth. To find the village is not so easy, the village is not open to traffic, no signposts, if not ask the way it is difficult to find. Because of this, we can see an original, quaint village, without any tourist commercial facilities.
Rongtang Village
There is a small empty field to park the car. Now most of the villagers have moved to the new village, leaving behind some of the elderly. They sat on the steps before the house, quietly waiting for the extremely rare arrival of tourists. You can prepare some coins before going to Rongtang Village, and give the old man a few dollars, they will be very happy, and willingly to be your guide.
the wind and rain door entrance to the village
meeting place for villagers
Buildings at the entrance to the village, there are chairs, blackboards and wall clock. Here is the meeting place for villagers.
The most important feature of Rongtang Village is that all the houses, fences, and roads are built with volcanic rock.
Each house in the village has its own history. Almost all of the houses are inherited from their ancestors, without any mortar adhesive, is a true “build”, I do not know how they survive and don’t fall after a hundred years of wind and rain. Number of houses looks smooth from the outside, but uneven inside, with a plume of light.
Many houses are locked like this, to prevent the pigs or dogs into the house.
This family seems had married daughter here, and there was still couplet on the door, as well as red fireworks debris left in front of the stone steps, but it appears not inhabited. Perhaps this is a custom, return to the old ancestral house to marry the bride.
Inside the yard
Stone mill and water tank in the yard
Rongtang Village is located in the volcanic area, and it is difficult to drill wells for water because of the hard underground stone, so the villagers have to fetch water to eat from afar. Therefore, people got used to place water tanks in front of the house, and the water tanks even became a sign of a display of wealth. Girl to be married, first to see how many water tanks the man had at home, and the girl's dowry is also just two water tanks.
papaya in the yard
walls built with volcanic rocks
the road paved by the volcanic rocks
There is a “fairy door” northwest of the village, built in Qing Guangxu years. There are some shrines beside the “fairy door”.
It is said that many villages in Hainan have such deities, and this one is built by volcanic rocks.
