Pic story: protecting Xidi and Hongcun villages in China's Anhui

This aerial drone photo taken on Dec. 18, 2024 shows a view of Xidi Village of Yixian County in Huangshan City, east China's Anhui Province. Listed as World Cultural Heritage Sites, Xidi and Hongcun are two renowned villages in east China's Anhui Province. With exquisite homes, ancestral halls and memorial archways, Hui-style buildings of Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911) are widely found here. To protect these two villages, people from various walks of life contribute in their own ways, such as fire captain Shu Jianjun and ancestral hall conservator Hu Xiaowen who are dedicated to preserving and passing on those cultural heritages. (Xinhua/Du Yu)

Ancestral hall conservator Hu Xiaowen (1st R) explains to visitors at an ancient building in Xidi Village of Yixian County in Huangshan City, east China's Anhui Province, Dec. 18, 2024. Listed as World Cultural Heritage Sites, Xidi and Hongcun are two renowned villages in east China's Anhui Province. With exquisite homes, ancestral halls and memorial archways, Hui-style buildings of Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911) are widely found here. To protect these two villages, people from various walks of life contribute in their own ways, such as fire captain Shu Jianjun and ancestral hall conservator Hu Xiaowen who are dedicated to preserving and passing on those cultural heritages. (Xinhua/Du Yu)

Fire captain Shu Jianjun (C) and his colleague Xie Xiaoqiang popularize fire fighting knowledge to the clerks in a shop in Hongcun Village of Yixian County in Huangshan City, east China's Anhui Province, Dec. 19, 2024. Listed as World Cultural Heritage Sites, Xidi and Hongcun are two renowned villages in east China's Anhui Province. With exquisite homes, ancestral halls and memorial archways, Hui-style buildings of Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911) are widely found here. To protect these two villages, people from various walks of life contribute in their own ways, such as fire captain Shu Jianjun and ancestral hall conservator Hu Xiaowen who are dedicated to preserving and passing on those cultural heritages. (Xinhua/Zhou Mu)

Fire captain Shu Jianjun (R) patrols with his colleague Xie Xiaoqiang in Hongcun Village of Yixian County in Huangshan City, east China's Anhui Province, Dec. 19, 2024. Listed as World Cultural Heritage Sites, Xidi and Hongcun are two renowned villages in east China's Anhui Province. With exquisite homes, ancestral halls and memorial archways, Hui-style buildings of Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911) are widely found here. To protect these two villages, people from various walks of life contribute in their own ways, such as fire captain Shu Jianjun and ancestral hall conservator Hu Xiaowen who are dedicated to preserving and passing on those cultural heritages. (Xinhua/Du Yu)

Fire captain Shu Jianjun checks the fire extinguisher in front of a fire brigade in Hongcun Village of Yixian County in Huangshan City, east China's Anhui Province, Dec. 19, 2024. Listed as World Cultural Heritage Sites, Xidi and Hongcun are two renowned villages in east China's Anhui Province. With exquisite homes, ancestral halls and memorial archways, Hui-style buildings of Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911) are widely found here. To protect these two villages, people from various walks of life contribute in their own ways, such as fire captain Shu Jianjun and ancestral hall conservator Hu Xiaowen who are dedicated to preserving and passing on those cultural heritages. (Xinhua/Du Yu)

An aerial drone photo shows fire captain Shu Jianjun (L) patrolling with his colleague Xie Xiaoqiang in Hongcun Village of Yixian County in Huangshan City, east China's Anhui Province, Dec. 19, 2024. Listed as World Cultural Heritage Sites, Xidi and Hongcun are two renowned villages in east China's Anhui Province. With exquisite homes, ancestral halls and memorial archways, Hui-style buildings of Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911) are widely found here. To protect these two villages, people from various walks of life contribute in their own ways, such as fire captain Shu Jianjun and ancestral hall conservator Hu Xiaowen who are dedicated to preserving and passing on those cultural heritages. (Xinhua/Du Yu)

This aerial drone photo taken on Dec. 18, 2024 shows a view of Xidi Village of Yixian County in Huangshan City, east China's Anhui Province. Listed as World Cultural Heritage Sites, Xidi and Hongcun are two renowned villages in east China's Anhui Province. With exquisite homes, ancestral halls and memorial archways, Hui-style buildings of Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911) are widely found here. To protect these two villages, people from various walks of life contribute in their own ways, such as fire captain Shu Jianjun and ancestral hall conservator Hu Xiaowen who are dedicated to preserving and passing on those cultural heritages. (Xinhua/Du Yu)

Ancestral hall conservator Hu Xiaowen (C) explains to visitors at an ancient building in Xidi Village of Yixian County in Huangshan City, east China's Anhui Province, Dec. 18, 2024. Listed as World Cultural Heritage Sites, Xidi and Hongcun are two renowned villages in east China's Anhui Province. With exquisite homes, ancestral halls and memorial archways, Hui-style buildings of Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911) are widely found here. To protect these two villages, people from various walks of life contribute in their own ways, such as fire captain Shu Jianjun and ancestral hall conservator Hu Xiaowen who are dedicated to preserving and passing on those cultural heritages. (Photo by Wu Zewei/Xinhua)

Fire captain Shu Jianjun (L) and his colleague Xie Xiaoqiang check fire alarm equipment in an ancient residential house in Hongcun Village of Yixian County in Huangshan City, east China's Anhui Province, Dec. 19, 2024. Listed as World Cultural Heritage Sites, Xidi and Hongcun are two renowned villages in east China's Anhui Province. With exquisite homes, ancestral halls and memorial archways, Hui-style buildings of Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911) are widely found here. To protect these two villages, people from various walks of life contribute in their own ways, such as fire captain Shu Jianjun and ancestral hall conservator Hu Xiaowen who are dedicated to preserving and passing on those cultural heritages. (Xinhua/Du Yu)

Fire captain Shu Jianjun patrols with his colleague Xie Xiaoqiang in Hongcun Village of Yixian County in Huangshan City, east China's Anhui Province, Dec. 19, 2024. Listed as World Cultural Heritage Sites, Xidi and Hongcun are two renowned villages in east China's Anhui Province. With exquisite homes, ancestral halls and memorial archways, Hui-style buildings of Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911) are widely found here. To protect these two villages, people from various walks of life contribute in their own ways, such as fire captain Shu Jianjun and ancestral hall conservator Hu Xiaowen who are dedicated to preserving and passing on those cultural heritages. (Xinhua/Du Yu)

This aerial drone photo taken on Dec. 18, 2024 shows ancestral hall conservator Hu Xiaowen cleaning at a yard of an ancestral hall in Xidi Village of Yixian County in Huangshan City, east China's Anhui Province. Listed as World Cultural Heritage Sites, Xidi and Hongcun are two renowned villages in east China's Anhui Province. With exquisite homes, ancestral halls and memorial archways, Hui-style buildings of Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911) are widely found here. To protect these two villages, people from various walks of life contribute in their own ways, such as fire captain Shu Jianjun and ancestral hall conservator Hu Xiaowen who are dedicated to preserving and passing on those cultural heritages. (Xinhua/Du Yu)

Ancestral hall conservator Hu Xiaowen walks in Xidi Village of Yixian County in Huangshan City, east China's Anhui Province, Dec. 18, 2024. Listed as World Cultural Heritage Sites, Xidi and Hongcun are two renowned villages in east China's Anhui Province. With exquisite homes, ancestral halls and memorial archways, Hui-style buildings of Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911) are widely found here. To protect these two villages, people from various walks of life contribute in their own ways, such as fire captain Shu Jianjun and ancestral hall conservator Hu Xiaowen who are dedicated to preserving and passing on those cultural heritages. (Xinhua/Zhou Mu)

Ancestral hall conservator Hu Xiaowen inspects an ancient building in Xidi Village of Yixian County in Huangshan City, east China's Anhui Province, Dec. 18, 2024. Listed as World Cultural Heritage Sites, Xidi and Hongcun are two renowned villages in east China's Anhui Province. With exquisite homes, ancestral halls and memorial archways, Hui-style buildings of Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911) are widely found here. To protect these two villages, people from various walks of life contribute in their own ways, such as fire captain Shu Jianjun and ancestral hall conservator Hu Xiaowen who are dedicated to preserving and passing on those cultural heritages. (Xinhua/Du Yu)