Ancient villages are the embodiment of architectural techniques, national cultures and genuine memories of ancestors.

An initiative of the Shanxi Communist Youth League to discover the disappearing ancient villages was launched recently in Shanxi province.

The statistics show that Shanxi has over 3,500 ancient villages in total, more than half of them have a history of over 1,000 years. However, more than 500 of them are on the verge of disappearing. Moreover, some ancient villages have only elderly residents left.

The event aims to appeal to the public's concern regarding these disappearing villages and to help left-behind elderly villagers.

According to the initiative's schedule, its first batch of destinations are three villages in Mengxiang county in the city of Yangquan, including Dachang village, which is hailed as a "Potala Palace" deep in the Taihang Mountain; Suanzhaopu village, a migrant village from the Hongwu Reign of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644); and an ancient village dating back to Ming and Qing dynasties, Dagou village.

The participants visiting the villages included experts, scholars, photographers, travelers and volunteers.

Dachang village in Mengxian county in the city of Yangquang. [Photo/asianewsphoto.com]