At the southern foot of the Yanshan Mountains in eastern Hebei, hidden away is a village enclosed by a thousand-meter wall of grey bricks built in the early Ming Dynasty — Guanfang Village in Malanyu Town, Zunhua City, Hebei Province. It lies at the foot of the Ming Great Wall, close to the important Malan Pass. In the Ming Dynasty, this was the residence of officers guarding the Great Wall pass, hence the name "Guanfang" (official quarters); in the Qing Dynasty, it was the Green Standard Army barracks for troops protecting the Eastern Qing Tombs, the imperial mausoleum complex.

Qing history expert Li Yin explains that after the Qing army entered through the pass, the Eastern Qing Tombs were built west of Guanfang Village, and heavy troops were stationed at Malan Pass. The residents of Guanfang Village were all hereditary military officers of the seventh rank or above who guarded the "Rear Dragon" feng shui zone of the Eastern Qing Tombs. The village has a long tradition of frontier garrison culture and held great military importance.

"Guanfang Village was built in the early Ming Dynasty. Despite centuries of wind, frost, rain and snow, the traces of ancient buildings in the village are still faintly visible. That a military garrison wall from ancient times has been preserved so completely is extremely rare — not only at the Eastern and Western Qing Tombs, but across the whole country," Li Yin said.

Viewed from the air, Guanfang Village is enclosed by its wall, with every house "embraced within." The wall is said to be 3.5 meters high, 1 meter thick and a thousand meters long. The main gate tower faces east from the west, grand and imposing, with spirit walls and screen walls inside and outside the entrance, lending the village an air of mystery.

Walking along the streets offers a full view of the ancient village: upturned-eave gate towers, the old city wall, spirit walls and screen walls, the Eight Banners Square, ancient wells and bridges... These structures, rich in Manchu cultural character, feature carved beams and painted rafters with a soaring grandeur.

Deep in the village, the lilacs are in full bloom. In the activity room of the villagers' service center, several villagers hold brushes and move them with flying grace across rice paper.

"They are practicing writing in both Manchu and Chinese," said Xu Jingming, director of the Guanfang Village committee. Guanfang is a Manchu village that has long preserved and passed down Manchu culture, and learning the Manchu language and script is one part of that. Xu Jingming's ancestors were transferred here during the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty to guard the tombs; his forebears served as military officers of the third rank during the Xianfeng reign.

Zhang Jintian, an 86-year-old villager, recalled: "When we were children we loved running around the wall playing; when we got tired we'd sit on it and watch the adults work."

Zhang said that in earlier years the wall and gate tower, worn by age and never repaired, looked dilapidated. "Our families have lived inside this wall for generations — it is a symbol of 'home.'"

In 2007, Guanfang Village began restoring the structures left by its ancestors. "While preserving the original gate tower, ancient wells, old stone bridges and other relics, we completed repair and reinforcement work on the old wall, gate tower, spirit walls and screen walls," Xu Jingming said. The village also built more than ten distinctive farmhouse inns and pick-your-own orchards, a folk collection exhibition hall, and an Eight Banners Square with a total area of 6,000 square meters.

In the village's Ethnic Memory Hall, this writer saw cultural relics from various periods, including stone steles, official documents, weapons, and items covering every aspect of Manchu daily life — clothing, food, housing and transport. "We built the Ethnic Memory Hall to protect our ancestors' heritage, preserve and pass on our ethnic culture, and learn from the past to understand the future," Xu Jingming said.

To this day, this small village of fewer than 400 people still keeps Manchu customs. On traditional festivals, Guanfang Village holds Manchu cultural events such as cooking competitions and the game of knee-butting. Villagers dress in Manchu attire, perform Manchu etiquette, and prepare Manchu specialties such as liu gezha (mung bean pancakes), sachima and the "Eight Great Bowls" feast.

Today, 89 households live inside the wall. The village has 279 mu of cultivated land and 1,500 mu of orchards and forest, with agriculture, forestry and animal husbandry as its main industries. In 2017, it was named a "China Ethnic Minority Characteristic Village" by the National Ethnic Affairs Commission.

"We are developing our unique cultural tourism resources and exploring development models such as in-depth Manchu cultural experiences, homestay economy and night economy, to make the village prosperous," Xu Jingming said.

Inside the gate tower, a large lotus vat has been cleaned out; every year Xu Jingming fills it with lotuses. "The lotus symbolizes harmony and beauty. I hope all the villagers live happily and that Guanfang Village blooms with renewed splendor," he said.