Zhujiayu is a small village about 2 hours out of Jinan and is proclaimed to be one of the oldest villages in Jinan. The houses in Zhujiayu are made of stone and mud, and we were surprised to find that so many houses were now in complete ruins.
On the other hand it's nice to know that the 'restoration' work that has happened at many old villages in China hasn't happened here - so many times we have been to 'the old town' to find that it is really just a brand new town made to look old! The town is made up of numerous stone lanes and tight mud alleyways as well as over 20 bridges and 20 spring wells scattered around the landscape. 
On the other hand it's nice to know that the 'restoration' work that has happened at many old villages in China hasn't happened here - so many times we have been to 'the old town' to find that it is really just a brand new town made to look old! The town is made up of numerous stone lanes and tight mud alleyways as well as over 20 bridges and 20 spring wells scattered around the landscape. We spent a pleasant hour or so wandering around before stumbling across the local inn where we were to stay for the night. Unfortunately a group of art students from Shandong University where staying there meaning we got the last room with a small single bed!
After settling in, we went back out to explore more of the small village which is surrounded by mountains, wandering in and around abandoned and crumbling houses, and people watching the few inhabitants that still live and work there.
It was interesting to see that it was predominantly old people who live here now and tend to the farms (and the slowly increasing tourist numbers). The great thing about arriving in the evening as we had the village almost to ourselves as the day-trippers had left to go back to Jinan already. We also had the freedom to go where we wanted as we didn't feel like we were intruding on people's lives, especially on the outer edges of the village where no one lives anymore. 
It was interesting to see that it was predominantly old people who live here now and tend to the farms (and the slowly increasing tourist numbers). The great thing about arriving in the evening as we had the village almost to ourselves as the day-trippers had left to go back to Jinan already. We also had the freedom to go where we wanted as we didn't feel like we were intruding on people's lives, especially on the outer edges of the village where no one lives anymore. We had an excellent meal at our inn, while sitting outside watching the art students drawing and taking advice from their teacher. We went to bed pretty early because there wasn't much to do when the sunlight disappeared and the village disappeared in the darkness.
We were woken around 3.30am by the resident roosters the next day, and battled to get back to sleep before finally arising and getting breakfast. It took us a while to get started, but eventually we found a track that headed out into the countryside where we watched local farmers prepare their fields for the upcoming season. No matter how many times we see it we're always amazed at the age and health of the workers, especially considering the fact that most of the men have been smoking their whole lives.
As it started to rain we turned around and headed up to the Kuixing Temple which keeps a watchful eye over the village below from its perch on the only mountain that still has trees on it. From the top we got great views before walking back through the village and making our way home - at the exit point of the village Adam finally fulfilled his desire to play with fireworks (these were just coils of double-happys that were banned years ago in NZ!). They were so much fun that he bought another pack to take back to Jinan for another time!
Saturday and Sunday was just filled with our usuals of Mountain Kung-fu and Chinese lessons, and not much else! Adam did spend a couple of hours watching, photographing, and hanging out with the workers at the construction sites that surround us.
Adlibing the Stone Village.
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