Located in Hezhou of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Jiang Family Hakka House is the largest known and best preserved Hakka-style house in China. This historical building now attracts a number of foreign visitors.

According to the Hezhou Tourism Bureau, tourists visiting the Hakka House reached 2.73 million in 2005, of which about 100,000 were foreigners.

 The Hakka House in Guangxi. Photo: ok591.com

The chief administrator of the Hezhou Tourism Bureau, Kong Ping, said Jiang Hakka House is extolled as the "Forbidden City" of southern China. It began construction in the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty. It covers 35 mu (about 23.35 thousand square meters) and owns a constructive area of 12.88 thousand square meters, featuring distinctive Hakka artistic mien.

Hezhou is at the junction of Hunan and Guangdong provinces and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. It is an important transit point for visitors from Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and other southern Asian regions to Guangxi's Guilin, one of the most famous scenic spots in China.

Hakkas were once a special branch of the Han ethnicity in China. Owning to natural disasters and military chaos, they formed into a particular community and gradually immigrated south during the Tang and Song Dynasties. They later moved further south and overseas. There are millions of Hakkas worldwide in more than 70 countries or regions worldwide, sharing their own cultural customs and traditions.

(CRIENGLISH.com August 28, 2006)