Wuzhishan, Hainan: China's Li 'Treasure' Boat-shaped House Complex Repaired Successfully
06 Agosto 2024 - 5:14PM
Recently, Wuzhishan City, located in the heart of the Hainan,
China's free trade port, received good news from its Chubao
Village. The protective repair work on the local famous
"boat-shaped house" complex is progressing well. By far,
the roofs of 45 villagers' houses have been repaired,
with the number expected to expand to 49 households by the end of
August.
A Media Snippet accompanying this announcement is
available by clicking on this link.
Chubao Village locates deep within the rainforest of Wuzhishan,
and is a traditional village for the Li ethnic group. The Li people
are indigenous to Hainan Island, with a population exceeding 1.5
million.
About 850 years ago, the ancient Chinese book 'Guihai Yuheng
Zhi' (Records of the Officer of the Land of Guangxi) recorded
the "boat-shaped house" of the Li people. Living in the
mountains and forests, the Li ancestors used readily available
rainforest materials like wood, bamboo, and rattan to construct
roofs with thatched coverings. The houses, looking like inverted
wooden boats, was given the name "boat-shaped house".
The Publicity Department of Wuzhishan Municipal
Committee introduces that these boat-shaped houses are
moisture-proof, and provide excellent heat insulation. The inside,
therefore, is warm in winter and cool in summer. They are also easy
to dismantle and rebuild, reflecting the Li people's wisdom for
surviving in the high-temperature, rainy tropical rainforest that
has passed on for thousands of years. The American missionary
Benjamin Couch Henry noted in his book Ling-Nam: Or Interior Views
of Southern China, Including Explorations in the Hitherto
Untraversed Island of Hainan that the spacious and airy boat-shaped
houses contributed to the physical health of the Li people.
With the economic and social development in Hainan's ethnic
areas, the once widespread boat-shaped houses in the island's
mountainous rainforests have been gradually replaced by brick
houses.
To preserve the building skills of the boat-shaped house, Hainan
Province has organized numerous training courses. In 2022, the
"Traditional Settlement of Li Ethnic Group" was officially on
the Tentative List of World Heritage, and Chubao Village of
Wuzhishan City was identified as a traditional village related
to the Li people's history and culture within the nomination site.
In 2023, Wuzhishan City launched a comprehensive repair
project for the boat-shaped houses in Chubao Village.
In recent years, Chubao Village has attracted several tourism
companies for feasibility study, as Wuzhishan City plans to
develop the tourism industry around it. Dang Keqiang, the village
cadre said, "Chubao Village has a stepped waterfall, the air here
is very good, high in negative air oxygen ion, and people often
come camping, filling the open space with cars." Villagers are
enthusiastic about the influx of tourists. "Every family is very
happy that tourists can come here," said Wang Yongyi, a Chubao
Village resident.
Source: The Publicity Department of
Wuzhishan Municipal Committee
Contact person: Ms. Wong, Tel: 86-10-63074558