The Qi-Lou buildings with Lingnan features in Ming and Qing Dynasties around Zhongshan Road of Shilong Town, Dongguan City.
Six villages and one street in Dongguan City have been included in the list of "Third-batch Guangdong Provincial Famous Historical & Cultural Villages and Streets" recently released. They are Xiaba Village of Wanjiang District, Huangchong Village of Zhongtang Township, Chaolang Village of Chashan Town, Xinji Village of Machong Town, Huangdong Village of Fenggang Town, Jiangbian Village of Qishi Town, and Zhongshan Road of Shilong Town.
The selection is co-organized by the Housing and Urban-Rural Construction Department of Guangdong Province and the Department of Culture - Guangdong Province. The indexes of "Guangdong Provincial Famous Historical & Cultural Villages and Streets" are formulated according to historical value, unique features, quality of preservation, location and scientific planning.
The index of historical value requires that the streets, villages and townships were built before the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911 AD), with well-preserved historical architecture clusters, memorial sites or memorial objects built before the Republic of China (1912) or those which have had great impact in the history of the Chinese revolution. As for the scale, there is a requirement that the total building area of existing historical architectures in the streets and towns should be over 5,000 square metres, or over 2,500 square metres for villages.
As early as 2008, Xixi Village in Liaobu Township became the first "Guangdong Provincial Famous Historical & Cultural Village" in Dongguan City. In the following year, Humen Township and Shilong Township each received the title of "Guangdong Provincial Famous Historical & Cultural Township". This year, Zhongshan Road of Shilong Town becomes Dongguan's first provincially famous historical & cultural street.
By Stefanie Tan and Sev Pischl