Guide to Licha Village 黎槎村 from ZHAOQING

As mentioned in the 48 hours in Zhaoqing, I actually went to Licha Village a few months back on the same weekend trip to Zhaoqing and wrote this back in November of 2019. Because of the coronavirus, I now have more time at home to fully organize my thoughts and share it on the website instead of going out and exploring more things. Without further ado, one of the most authentic and cool experiences I’ve had in China so far, and here’s how you can get there!

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Located about 25km from downtown Zhaoqing, this 800 year old traditional Chinese village got its name from the way the houses within the village was planned out. The name “Bagua” means the yin-yang symbol in Chinese. And that’s exactly how the different houses were aligned in this village, in a spiral yin-yang symbol formation.

Bus 315 from downtown Zhaoqing to Licha Village

Getting There from Downtown Zhaoqing

We took a bus from downtown Zhaoqing and transferred at one of its stations to bus 315 that went to the villages surrounding the city outskirts. The entire ride was $8 RMB or about $1.25 USD and took about an hour. The ticket collector lady on the bus was so nice and even told us where to get off so we didn’t miss the village stop. The bus also came very often that we didn’t wait for more than 5 minutes both ways. Funny note though, it felt like the bus dropped us off in the middle of nowhere. There’s one main paved street that is accompanied by mostly car maintenance shops on the side and entrances to different villages such as this one. Most of the vehicles on this main street are either buses or construction trucks so it may get a little overwhelming. But no fear! The serenity of the village is almost immediate as soon as you walk through the entrance.

Tickets for Licha Village

To my surprise, the locals of the village formed a little ticket office at the entrance of the village and sold tickets for $20 RMB or $3 USD and even provided us a printed map on half a sheet of paper that highlighted the key houses and neighborhoods.

The Experience

The entire village is on an island surrounded by a small river. And the houses are built in the traditional Chinese style with the grey bricks. There were several communal halls for hosting parties and I suppose weddings as well. The remainder of the residential houses were divided into “neighborhood” sections each with a main road, a few separate households and rooms, as well as a small temple to worship local gods. The village also planted 3 auspicious trees according to a local shaman on March 3, 3AM. Beautiful auspicious trees!

There’s also a cute bridge that connects the entire village since one section of the village is separated by a small creek. Beautiful backdrop of the traditional architecture complimented with the green-blue creeks make it a perfect place to snap a few photos! We also bumped into several old ladies who were so cute and kind! They smiled and waved at us and several of them were hand making baskets and mats from straws. Another one we saw must’ve been at least 75, wearing a bright pink long sleeve shirt with small blue flowers and riding a bicycle down the village main street like a boss! I wish I actually spoke to them for a bit and learn a bit more about their background and if their ancestors all lived in the village. It was such an incredible and unique experience and in my opinion, an absolute must if you visit Zhaoqing!