Featured Image Credit: Liu Zhankun / China News Service / VCG via Getty Images
Topics: Art, China, Travel, Weird, World News
Tom Earnshaw
Topics: Art, China, Travel, Weird, World News
No, you're not looking at the latest mock up from Disney when it comes to expanding one of its theme parks. Neither is it a mood board for one of its upcoming films.
Hidden in lush green mountains in away from the hustle and bustle of city life, the rows of colourful houses might look like something out of the next Disney production. But in reality, it's a real life village.
With red tile roofs and walls in colours of blue, red, yellow, green, pink, and orange, it looks incredibly inviting - if not a little out of place compared to the towns, villages and cities you might drive through to get there.
Located in eastern China, in the Jiangxi province, aerial images of the village have caught the attention of people online as they go somewhat viral.
Found near to the city of Dexing, the village stands out by a country mile compared to its more traditional, untouched surroundings.
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The village, known as Huangzhushan, is part of slow, creeping tourism efforts in eastern China to get more people to holiday and venture inland.
"I used to do nothing on weekends," said one local called Qiu Shui'e, when speaking to China Daily.
"But now I cater to a large number of tourists."
As you get down to the street level, the individual murals on buildings stand out, with them the product of professional artists brought in to spice things up.
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We are talking scene lake murals, a beekeeper tending to his hive, and fruit and vegetables. All bringing an individual touch.
Qiu said: "The government invited many professional painters from the Central Academy of Fine Arts to decorate our houses last year.
"They wanted to create a 'fairytale village' to attract tourists."
With just 405 people registered as living in Huangzhushan village, the population level is in fact less than that with half having left for better paid jobs in the bigger cities dotted throughout China.
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To try and stop the village from simply fading away in to oblivion, authorities renovated the village in 2017 at a cost of $1.9 million (£1.5 million).
As well as the incredible paintwork, a giant windmill was erected and 39 hectares of flowers were planted across a two kilometre trail. That's about 55 football fields for comparison.
After being renovated, local press reported 20,000 tourists visiting the village on its second day of having a completed facelift.
Fast forward six years and fresh images of the village have been published, showing it as colourful now as it was back then.