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Wuyuan, known as the "most beautiful countryside in China," has at least 50 old villages. Trekking in the old villages in Spring offers refreshing views of hills covered in rape, green farmland, exuberant camphor trees, creeks and small rapids. Villages lie along small rivers, trees stand on riverbanks, and old farmers leisurely drive ducks toward a pond, forming a typical Chinese countryside scene. Wuyuan is known not only for its natural scenery, but also for its glorious past. The remote county was home to some of China's top scholars, including Zhu Xi, a Confucius master in the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), and Zhan Tianyou, China's first railway engineer. Thousands of Wuyuan people passed the civil imperial examinations -- examinations for selecting government officials in feudal dynasties -- and climbed high in the official ladder. It also produced some of the country's richest merchants.

Photo by Happytime, May 2005