Guanxi is a treasure for fans of old houses. I’ve often driven the road toward Fuxing and passed by this spot. The hill always seemed artificial, and there was a small path.
So I went in and discovered a road and the first outlines of something.
I had to clear the way a bit, and soon I found an entire complex with many houses—though they have been left to decay.
You can still sense the complexity of it.
I asked an old man, and he told me that the old road used to run to the right of the house. Behind the house, across what is now a road, were the fields. After construction began, the families moved away. He couldn’t give me a specific time.
(Copyright Claudius Petzold)
