Enter the Ancient Village of Shanxi —— Zhang Bi Ancient Fortress (I)

Welcome to Zhang Bi Ancient Fortress，I am your English-speaking guide.

First, I'd like to introduce here for you. Zhang Bi Ancient Fortress is located at the northern foot of Mountain Mian in the center of Shanxi Province. It's about 1020 meters above sea level and covers only about 0.1 square kilometers. But there is a fortress above ground, and an underground tunnel system.

1.Guan Di Temple

This is Guan Di Temple. It was rebuilt in the Qing Dynasty, Kangxi period, so it's about 300 years old. We know, most of temples are facing in north face to south, but this one is opposite. It faces from back to front. Because the southern part is the mountain, and people think this is a bad geomantic omen, so people built this temple as the screen wall to protect the village.

2.Guan Di Temple Stage

In front of us, there is a small stage. When we open the door, it is a passage, but when we close the door, it's a small stage. And this stage is mainly used for shadow and puppet plays these days.

3.The South Gate of the Fortress

We can see south gate of this fortress. It was rebuilt in the Ming Dynasty. It has existed for 461 years. Above the gate is an animal, it's a dragon's son who can control water. Long time ago, there was a river running through the village, so local people built this animal hoping it would protect the villagers.

4.Hongshun Street

This is the main road of this village .It was rebuilt during the Qing dynasty,  Daoguang period. It is about 200 years old and also serves as the drainage system. We can see that two sides are higher than the middle part. In case of the heavy rain, they will guide the water into the middle part and flow it down.

5.Kehan Temple Stage

This is the oldest stage in the village. It was built in the Yuan Dynasty, about 700 years old. People always play the folk dance here.

6. Ancient Lamp Pole

This is a signal light. It was used for sending messages during the war time.