Private Beijing Countryside Tour: Cuandixia Village and Liulichang Street

For people who like the charm of old villages, this is for you. Away from the usual tourist spots, this tour was kind of quiet. Take a liesurely stroll along the village or climb up the higher part of the village to appreciate the beauty of an aerial view of the village. But climbing does require some moderate physical effort. But unlike climbing the Greatwall, one need not hurry to climb up since there were not much people following behind.
Had an informative day with Helen, my guide. She told me the history of the village and took me to an authentic villagers' lunch. We were lucky to have tasted the restaurant's specialty fish dish. People were still inquiring about the availability of the dish even after we have already finished lunch.
We were brought back safely by our driver to Liulichang Street. I expected a more rustic type of antique street-noisy, crowded, with vendors displaying their goods on the street....but it was exactly the opposite. The art works chinese paintings, calligraphy, glass art etc and antiques were housed in little stores. We didn't get to go around much anymore as we arrived the area kind of late already but I got to buy some unique glass art that were done by one of China's national artist. Probably if we arrived earlier I would have explored the street more.