Zhongzhai Village

Zhongzhai Village is located in the southeast of Morong Town in Guzhang County, at the lower reaches of the Longbi River. It’s named Zhongzhai because it’s situated between the previous Paibu Village and Jirong Village.

The village covers a total land area of 18.5 square kilometers and a cultivated area of more than 1,400 mu (about 0.93 square kilometers), with 1,222 people in 286 households. It’s 35.7 kilometers away from Guzhang County and 44 kilometers away from Jishou City. Zhongzhai Village is a typical Miao village. Zhongzhai Village has a long history, and its village appearance is well preserved. The overall form of the village is affected by its mountain environment. Due to the location characteristics of the village, the terrain changes greatly, and the traffic roads between villages and the outside world are also winding.

The residential buildings in Zhongzhai Village are built with typical Miao characteristics, all of which are wooden structure, boasting distinctive characteristics of Xiangxi residential buildings like stilted buildings, corner buildings and swallow houses. A large number of residential buildings are concentrated and well preserved. Among them, the most complete ones are distributed in Guixi and Laozhai natural villages. The houses in Guixi are distributed on the hillsides, and those in Laozhai nestle in the valleys surrounded by mountains.

The Ganqiu Festival in Zhongzhai Village falls on Start of Autumn every year. The Miao people in the surrounding areas dress up to sing Miao songs and play Miao drums to celebrate the harvest.
 
In particular, young men and women gather from all directions to find true love of their life and give each other keepsakes, so as to get married. The people in Zhongzhai Village are warm and hospitable. When guests come to the Miao village, they will enjoy door-blocking wine. During the family meal, the young girl pours liquor and serves the meal, while the host frequently serve dishes and toasts to the guests. Guests should have a hearty drink and enjoy delicious dishes. Zhonghzai Village now is still the place for the Miao people to live in and continue its original functions. It’s not only the carrier of social life, but also an important embodiment of the vitality of heritage. It plays an important role in the construction of new countryside and rural culture, and forms its own cultural atmosphere and village construction mode.
 
It has played a positive role in carrying forward China’s long traditional culture and enhancing national cohesion. Its natural scenery and humanistic culture are well preserved. It’s a settlement cultural landscape with perfect combination of human spirit and natural environment. It has strong reference value for the study of modern architectural environment and settlement layout, and has strong ornamental value as well as development and utilization value.