Baoshan, October 29 (CNN) -- The "lively" hometown of overseas Chinese and the ancient town of Shun hope that overseas sons and daughters often "go home" to see

Author: Miao Chao, Luo Jie

Every afternoon, 45-year-old Li Shuguang has to return from his home in Tengchong County to the "Curved Building" in Heshun Ancient Town, making handicrafts and taking care of plants and bonsai until he leaves in the evening.

Li Shuguang was born and raised in "Curved Building", and now part of his life is "returned" to this century-old mansion in order to continue the career that his 90-year-old aunt Li Kunpao has adhered to all her life - guarding the ancestral home.

The picture shows the century-old house "Curved Building". Photo by Chinanews reporter Miao Chao

Heshun is located 4 kilometers southwest of Tengchong City, Yunnan Province, and is the hometown of overseas Chinese on the Silk Road in the ancient southwest. Hundreds of years ago, the people of Heshun went abroad to "go to Yifang", giving birth to ancient transnational trade names and setting off the earliest transnational trade boom in Yunnan.

A group of male businessmen and giants were produced in the process of "going to the party". Li Shuguang told reporters, "My ancestors were along the ancient Southern Silk Road, going to Myanmar, Thailand, India and other countries to engage in commodity trade. "After several generations of business, the Li family was once rich.

The family now has nearly 450 people, of which more than 300 descendants are scattered in more than 10 countries such as the United States, Japan, Germany, and Myanmar. In the "Curved Building", in addition to Chinese furniture, there are Burmese Luohan chairs, American ovens, German wall clocks and so on.

The picture shows an alley in the ancient town of Heshun.　Photo by Chinanews reporter Miao Chao

Nuoda's family is scattered all over the world, and only Li Kunpao is left alone to guard the ancestral house. As the old man approached his nineties, her children persuaded her again and again before she agreed to move to Tengchong County.

"My aunt has guarded the ancestral home all her life, because this is a thread that holds 450 relatives at home and abroad." Li Shuguang said that with the ancestral home, the overseas descendants of the Li family will only know where the "roots" are.
　
On the walls of the old house are several family photos from different periods. Li Shuguang pointed to the group photo and smiled, "Family reunion, language has become a communication barrier. "Although we don't understand the language, we can always have fun."

Walking into Heshun, you can appreciate the charm of the white walls and tiles of Hui style architecture such as "Curved Building", and you can also find elements of Western architecture and South Asian architecture. More than 100 century-old houses, 8 ancestral halls, 9 temples, 9 stone bridges, 6 laundry pavilions, 9 archways, 13 Lu gates, and 24 platforms are all architectural classics, known as the "living fossils" of ancient Chinese architecture.

The picture shows the Heshun Library.　Photo by Chinanews reporter Miao Chao

"The biggest difference between Heshun and other ancient towns in China is that the indigenous people still live here." Cun Yu, director of Heshun Library, said that a person's "bent building" is just an example, and Heshun is still a "living" quiet and elegant ancient town.

The Heshun Library, which is "guarded" by Cunyu, is simple and elegant, and the windows are bright and clean. It is hard to imagine that this library, located in the southwest frontier, is actually a rural library with the longest history and the largest collection of books in China.

Founded in 1928, Heshun Library has a collection of more than 80,000 books, including more than 10,000 ancient books and rare books. To this day, the borrowing room and reading room are still open to residents and visitors.

For a long time, the Han culture of the Central Plains, the ethnic culture of the border areas, and the culture of South Asia and Southeast Asia have converged and integrated in Heshun, forming a harmonious, harmonious and inclusive culture. Cun Yu thinks, "Heshun Library is an important carrier of this culture, and it must be maintained well to extend the cultural context of overseas Chinese." ”

The picture shows the ancestral hall of the Cun family. Photo by Chinanews reporter Miao Chao

Less than 100 meters away from Heshun Library, stands the largest ancestral hall in Heshun - Cun Clan Ancestral Hall. Every Spring Festival, Qingming Festival, and Mid-Autumn Festival, with the ancestral hall as the carrier, Heshun will carry out ancestor worship ceremonies and invite returning overseas Chinese leaders to discuss. Cun Aifang, a member of Heshun overseas Chinese, said, "We use singing, recitation, dancing and other ways to express our deep feelings for the motherland and Heshun, as well as a beautiful outlook for the future of our hometown." ”

Currently, there are 7,035 people in Heshun. Among them, there are 3,815 returned overseas Chinese and their relatives, accounting for 54% of the total population; There are more than 30,000 overseas Chinese in "Overseas Heshun", distributed in 13 countries and regions such as Myanmar, Thailand, Japan, the United States, and Canada.

According to Chuan Zhuli, deputy director of the United Front Work Department of the Tengchong Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China and director of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the government, the township journal "Heshun Township" sponsored by the Heshun Federation of Overseas Chinese has been published eight issues, compiling Heshun's economic, political, cultural, social and other aspects and excellent articles, and sending them to overseas Chinese, so that they can often understand the changes and development of their hometown.

"But Heshun still looks forward to it, and overseas sons and daughters often go home to see." (ENDS)

(Source: China News Network)