Dishes for a family banquet.[Photo by Yang Feiyue/ China Daily]

As of now, visitors don't have to pay for access and can freely tour the town and savor the ancient culture and locals' enthusiasm and hospitality.

Xie Gaosheng kept inviting me for lunch when I visited his house. The 67-year-old didn't look his age at all and seemed a picture of health.

He used to deliver incense to temples in the mountainous areas nearby.

His family was treating his relatives and friends that day. And his wife and eldest daughter were bustling around in the back kitchen. They had to cook for nearly 40 people.

Guests carrying gifts were seen coming in one after another as the lunch hour approached. They took up all four round wooden tables that fit nicely in the antechamber of Xie's house.

Heated rice wine kept flowing as everyone took turns to make toasts.

The meal consisted of farmhouse-styled dishes of chicken, duck and fish. They didn't look fancy but were exceptionally tasty.

Xie is grateful to the local government and says he is satisfied with the ways things are currently in the village.

"I'll visit the others' houses for meals from tomorrow," he says.

You might not be able to buy a cup of coffee in Heping for now, but you can sample tasty tofu jelly and fried stuffed dough cakes for just 1 or 2 yuan and take in all the sights for free.

Contact the writer at yangfeiyue@chinadaily.com.cn

If you go

Take a high-speed train or fly to Wuyi Mountain and then take a one-hour ride on a shuttle bus to Shaowu.