Walls and Doors of Li Jia He

A Last Link to China’s Ancient Culture

The mountainous region of Xiaozhushan is an unappreciated wonder of Qingdao. Li Jia He is a village just east of Xiaozhushan, in a valley in a valley. It’s a small village. Usually people out of the mountain region have never heard of it.

The Hills of Qingdao are pleasant… they are so pleasant that sometimes you can’t stand it. You can cut it with a knife, and then with the air blowing off of the sea (yes, the Yellow Sea), it’s just too good to handle. You look down the valley and there’s the sea.

There’s the island, Lingshan Dao right. It’s an overload of too many pleasant things at the same time. “It doesn’t get any better than this.” And then that air. It’s so delicious. Sometimes you fill your lungs with it and smile.

“Kong qi hao!” the peasants here boast. “Shui hao he!”

There are only three villages left in the hills East of Xiaozhushan. Babylon is advancing into the mountains. In a matter of time, all of the ancient culture of the hills will be a memory. These villages are the last link to that ancient past.

Imagine: the villages have been there since Ming times at least. When the villages are destroyed, the people move into apartments. But the apartments, one might say, have the culture of Babylon. So in a way, it’s the final end of a long tradition of Chinese village culture.

Here are some walls and doors of one of these last villages. This village is called Li Jia He, and no, nobody in the village is named Li.

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Qingdao Photos: Xiao Zhu Shan