Tuanshan Village Travel Guide

Tuanshan is a rare surviving example of an intact¡ªalbeit neglected¡ªtraditional walled Yunnan village compound in southwestern China. Although it was founded as a mining center at the end of the fourteenth century, most of Tuanshan¡¯s well-preserved residences, gateways, temples, ancestral halls, and walls date from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when the village prospered as a result of expanded trade with southeast Asia, made possible by the Yunnan-Vietnam railroad. Modest exteriors mask a wealth of exquisitely carved wood latticework; intricate wood, stone, and brick reliefs; and painted decorations that survived the tumult of the Cultural Revolution due to Tuanshan¡¯s privileged political connections to the Communist Party at that time.Ironically, while Tuanshan may have survived the Cultural Revolution, it is now threatened by uncontrolled regional economic growth and development. Pressure to exploit the historic structures for profit has led to plans to depopulate the site, as well as heavily invasive conservation and repair schemes that have done much to damage the existing historic fabric. Watch listing is intended to encourage a sustainable, economically viable tourism plan that will create job opportunities for the local community.