Dangjia Village is located about 9km northeast of hancheng,Shaanxi,1.5km from the state road No.108. It is in a long, narrow gourd-shaped valley. Viewed from aloft, it appears as a vista of 120 quadrangles built with celadon brick walls and black tile roofs. The Bishui River south of the village flows leisurely towards the Yellow River just 3.5 kilometers east. Bounded by the Liangshan Mountains to the west and the Yellow River to the east, the village sits on a high terrace in the valley that faces the sun but is sheltered from wind, so is virtually dustless. The valley beneath it makes for easy draining. There have been no floods in Dangjia for hundreds of years.

Inhibited by two major clans: the Dang and the Jia, the village possesses a history of about 670 years. Today, there are altogether 1,400 villagers living in 320 different households. In early Qing Dynasty, members of these two clans were engaged in trade at the valley of the Tanghe River and the Baihe River between Henan and Hubei provinces. Due to the chances they seized, all of them succeeded in their business. It is said that their armed escorts who sent money home followed one after another. At the same time, the construction of courtyards in the village reached its heyday, and this prosperous period lasted as long as 100 years.

'Siheyuan', a courtyard house, is a typical representative of Hancheng's traditional house building in Dangjia Village. Dangjia has 125 well-preserved Ming and Qing quadrangles that are on similar lines to Beijing siheyuan quadrangles but in a different style. Dangjia Village dwellings are garnished with stone, wood and brick carvings. Almost every lintel bears inscriptions that go back for generations. Hutongs are cleanly paved in smooth stone slabs. In the deep Hutongs of Dangjia Village are vistas of high gate towers that match the two-story houses behind them. The gateways open to the right of the courtyards and never face those across the lane from them directly. In front of the gate towers are stone stakes for tethering horses and stepping stones for mounting.

Villagers who had grown rich were liable to be attacked, so in the Qing Dynasty Xianfeng Reign, 27 families united to build the Biyang Fortress and defend themselves from insurrectionists and bandits. On the wall and gate tower used to stand dozens of cannons. The wall commands a panoramic view of the village. The well-planned defensive system, including Watching-building, fortress, city wall and double-layer wall, has been a positive factor for the survival of the ancient house building in Dangjia Village through hundreds of years. One must be surprised to see the solemnly memorial Pishengzhu and the gorgeously Chaste and Undefiled stele.

Throughout history, the villagers valued literacy and advocated the participation of imperial examinations. As a matter of fact, an intensive cultural atmosphere was dreated in this village. The landmark of the village one can find is a tower called "Wenxing Ge Pavilion" where offerings were presented to Wenqu Xing, the god that was believed to be in charge of academic luck. There are also some towers built in the shape of ink-ingots, seals, and ink-brushes, all of which bear strong symbolism. Other interesting sites in the village are the "Xizi" stoves. It was belived that any paper with words and characters on it could never be used for pasting, wrapping and so on. Still worse it would be used for pasting, wrapping and so on. All the waste papers should be burned in these stoves.

In quite a lot of the courtyards in the village, one can find at the conspicuous places some family principles, and maxims, some about study and others about self-discipline and self-improvement. Under such favorable environment, generations of capable people have been brought up in this village both in the feudal and the modern society.