Liugou Village

Liugou Village ( Liugou Cun 柳沟村 ）is located in Jingzhen Township, 15km southeast of downtown Yanqing County and 92km north of Beijing city proper. "Liugou" literally means "willow ditch".

Liugou Village lies on a spacious north-south ditch (valley). But unlike the name of Willow Ditch, Liugou Village doesn't have many willow trees, instead Chinese scholar tree are easily seen growing on both sides of the roads in the village.

In the past 10 years, great efforts have been made by Liugou Village to develop local folk tourism. New courtyard-style farmhouses have been built; old houses revamped. The old town of Liugou Village can still be seen - the old city wall, the old city gate and temples. Liugou Village was stationed by the soldiers in Ming and Qing Dynasty. It is said that if viewed from a nearby hill, the old part of Liugou Village looks like a flying phoenix, hence the Liugou's nickname of Phoenix City.

Liugou Village is situated in the north of Juyongguan Pass Great Wall and to the east of Badaling Great Wall. It used to be an important military fort. The Ming Dynasty Great Wall winded past Liugou Village. Most of the sections of the Great Wall at Liugou Village have been demolished and damaged. The bricks of the Great Wall were used to make houses in the village. But the remains of the Great Wall can be still recognized.

There are over 100 households in Liugou Village, a large village in the countryside around Beijing. Liugou Village has been developed into a folk culture village offering the well known "Tofu Feast" or "Bean Curd Banquet" and farmhouse Inn service for urban residents and oversea travelers. Almost all the households in the village are specialised in making Tofu Banquet.

How to get there:

1. Public Bus： Take Bus 877 from Deshengmen and connect Bus Y08 for Liugou Village.
2. Self-drive: Drive on Jingzhang Express (Badaling Great Wall expressway) and exit at Yanqing Exit, drive past the downtown Yanqing; continue to drive in the direction of Yongning Township. On the way, you will see the signboard pointing to Liugou Village.

Follow me to Liugou Village!

These are several rows of newly built farmhouses, white washed walls, roof tiles designed in a courtyard style.

All the houses are built in the traditional courtyard style.

On the other side of the village main road are revamped farmhouses.

We are looking for a household to prepare Tofu Feast lunch for us.

To our surprise, all the private rooms and tables under shelters in the open area around the courtyards are full. Of course, we have booked 6 tables for our Forty-some group.

Walking under the sun shelter formed by vigorous gourd vines.

More than just tofu, the local tofu banquet also includes the local farm dishes.

Charcoal stoves are used to cook tofu

Tofu Meal is actually a casserole hotpot atop a burning charcoal stove with different kinds of tofu in the casserole - fresh, frozen and deep fried tofu mixed with meat, bacon and Chinese cabbage.

A casserole contains fresh, frozen and deep fried tofu mixed with meat, bacon and Chinese cabbage.

Liugou Tofu Feast

All of us are enjoying the casserole hotpot tofu very much.

A village fruit vendor is expecting some business from the eaters inside the courtyard.

A farm boy with a toy. Will he be interested in cooking tofu when grown-up?

By the parking lot, there is a small market for local villages to sell the local specialities.

Liuguo Village Contact Phone Number: 61192032, 61185391

Tip: Hassle-free Beijing Guided Tours

If you don’t want to go the do-it-yourself route and prefer the hassle-free escorted tours, here are some options for Beijing guided tours:

Beijing Day Tour Beijing Tour Packages Beijing Winter Tour Beijing Autumn Tour Great Wall Tour Car Rental in Beijing Beijing Tours China City Tours China Tour

Further Readings

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