Both ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ Filming Locations: Anhui Villages Differ in Popularity
Introduction:
When it comes to ancient villages in Anhui Province, approximately 90% of tourists will likely think of Hongcun, a village hailed as 'a village in Chinese paintings.' Indeed, among the numerous ancient villages in Anhui, Hongcun's popularity is undeniable, and this popularity has led us to often overlook other ancient villages in Anhui. In fact, there are many more ancient villages beneath the foot of Huangshan Mountain, all showcasing typical Huizhou architecture, with streams flowing through the villages and traditional residences distributed across the mountains. From a distance, they resemble layered stone terraces, like a painting in Chinese water-ink style.
The success of Hongcun's high popularity is largely due to the 2000 film 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,' directed by Ang Lee, starring Jet Li, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi, and Gong Li. As everyone knows, this classic Chinese martial arts action film has gained a global following, creating a craze internationally and becoming a popular film at major film awards ceremonies, ultimately winning four prestigious awards in 2000 including Best Foreign Film, Best Cinematography, and Best Art Direction, making it the first Chinese film to win the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film.
This internationally acclaimed film 'Crouting Tiger, Hidden Dragon''s important filming locations have become a focal point of attention. At the film's ending, the units listed in the credits included Hongcun and Nanping, both ancient villages beneath Huangshan Mountain. Following the film's popularity, Hongcun and Nanping have both gained a boost, becoming representative examples of Anhui's ancient villages. However, the two villages have developed in vastly different ways, and their popularity is incomparable.
As a key filming location for 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,' visitors to Hongcun can find many of the film's most classic scenes while wandering through the village. For example, the stone arch bridge in South Lake, where the male protagonist walks across with a white horse at the beginning of the film, is located at Hongcun; the scene where Li Mu Bai and Yu Shuilian express their mutual longing is shot in the Wudi Ancestral Hall; and most of the typical Huizhou architecture with white walls and dark gray roofs, frequently presented in the film, are all shot in Hongcun.
Just a dozen miles from Hongcun, within a 20-minute drive is another ancient village – Nanping. Hongcun is a 800-year-old ancient village in Anhui Province, while Nanping's history is 200 years older than Hongcun, dating back over 1000 years. Like Hongcun, Nanping is also a key filming location for 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,' and the scene where Yu Shuilian and Jiang Mai compete in the ancestral courtyard is shot in Nanping's 'Zhi Chi Tang' (Assessment Hall).
Hongcun and Nanping are both representative Huizhou architecture ancient villages beneath Huangshan Mountain. Hongcun boasts over 440 well-preserved Ming and Qing Dynasty residences, described as 'a brilliant gem of Chinese traditional architecture' and 'a living textbook for studying the history of China's waterworks' by domestic and foreign architectural experts. On November 30, 2000, Hongcun was listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Nanping is composed of intricate alleyways, ancestral halls, and ancient residence groups, with 72 ancient alleys and over 300 Ming and Qing Dynasty ancient buildings, and is hailed as 'China's Ancient Ancestral Hall Architecture Museum.'
Although Hongcun and Nanping are both representative Huizhou architecture ancient villages and key filming locations for 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,' when we visit these two villages, we will find that their popularity is vastly different. Hongcun has countless tourists in every alley, and the famous ancestral halls and courtyards are often crowded; while in South Lake, countless artists are busy sketching. However, when we step into Nanping, there are only a few tourists, and even the artists are just a trickle from Hongcun.
It's not surprising that this difference in popularity; it's not that Nanping's scenery isn't good, but that after the film's popularity decreased, Nanping didn't maintain its popularity. Hongcun, on the other hand, has always maintained high popularity, boosted by its inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Therefore, it remains the most popular ancient village in Anhui Province.
