What is the China Folk House Retreat? 

The China Folk House Retreat is a 501(c)(3) organization that preserved a traditional Chinese farmhouse from dam construction by moving it from Northern Yunnan to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. The China Folk House is a multi-purpose site; it is a living museum, experiential education and cultural exchange center, and a space for community building events. We aim to foster cultural and educational exchanges between the U.S. and China by building mutual understanding, connecting rural folkways, and cultivating environmental stewardship. 

 

Where is the China Folk House from? Why is it in West Virginia? 

The China Folk House is from Cizhong village in Yunnan, China. Cizhong lies along the banks of the Lancang (or Mekong) River and at the foot of the Meili mountain. Because Cizhong is located in the Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan region (Lancang, Nujiang, Jinsha), the area has incredible biodiversity. The house was moved because the completion of the Wunonglong dam on the Lancang River would have flooded the homestead. 

 

We moved the house from the Himalaya mountains and Mekong River to the Blue Ridge mountains and Shenandoah River to explore the commonalities of landscape and rural folkways in these two mountain regions, each with rich biodiversity and corresponding diverse cultural traditions. One of the main goals of the China Folk House is to create a platform for the exchange of local knowledge between communities in northwest Yunnan and the Appalachian region, including West Virginia.

 

Who lived in the house before it moved to the United States?

A Tibetan Catholic family named Zhang built the house in 1989. Members of the Zhang family were farmers and important lay members of the Catholic church They have since been relocated to a new house on higher ground in the town of Cizhong following the construction of the Wunonglong dam.  

 

The founders of CFHR met the original owner of the house, Zhang Jianhua, in 2015 while teaching a semester program for high schoolers in Yunnan, China. The founders bumped into Mr. Zhang Jianhua as he opened his gate and he invited the group in for tea. The rest is history!

 

Who rebuilt the China Folk House?

The reassembly of the China Folk House is the product of over 250 volunteers building community together. In 2017, a small team of architects, teachers, and carpenters came together to disassemble the farm house in Cizhong. The deconstruction work took place over the course of one week. The disassembly was led by a team of four ethnic Bai carpenters--Masters He, Zhao, Shi, and Yang– and assisted by the U.S. crew of Martin Fair, Steve Steinbach, Alison Steinbach, Nikhil Chaudhuri, and John Flower. 

 

In 2019, we began rebuilding by hosting our first “Camp Wholesome,” a summer program in which high school students help reassemble the house and learn about Chinese culture. A group of master timber framers from the West Virginia Timber Framers Guild volunteered for over two weeks to put up the timber frame. Since 2019, the homestead has been reassembled by our construction team, Matheiu Lamaure, Jonathan Morrison,  

 

Some say, “it takes a village to raise a house.” In our case it’s also true that “it takes a house to make a village” because so many people have come together to rebuild the house, and each person puts part of themselves into their labor, so the house has really created a whole China Folk House community! 

 

What is hempcrete?

Hempcrete is a negative carbon, sustainable building material that is used in all of the walls at China Folk House. It is  a mixture of hemp hurd, lime, and clay. The CFHR team loves hempcrete so much that we’ve built what we’re told is the biggest hempcrete wall in North America: 100 feet long and 20 feet tall, inside and out.

 

Is the China Folk House Retreat part of a Quaker meeting? 

The China Folk House is sited on the Friends Wilderness Center (FWC), a Quaker spiritual sanctuary, but CFHR is not part of a Quaker meeting. Although our organization is not Quaker, we certainly do cherish our partnership with our friends at the FWC!

 

What is the Rolling Ridge Conservancy? 

The Rolling Ridge Conservancy (RRC) is a 1400 acre wilderness preserve nestled between the Appalachian Trail on the Blue Ridge to the east and the Shenandoah River to the west in West Virginia. The land has been preserved since the 1970s, when a generous, forward-thinking Quaker family, the Niles, created a land trust and placed the land under conservation in the hands of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. The Rolling Ridge Conservancy is a partner organization of the China Folk House Retreat. 

 

What is Friends Wilderness Center? 

The Friends Wilderness Center (FWC) is a Quaker spiritual sanctuary located within the Rolling Ridge Conservancy, a unique 1400 acre wilderness preserve. The FWC offers regularly scheduled spiritual programs and hiking opportunities as well as overnight hospitality. 

 

What’s next after the construction of the China Folk House is completed?

Once the critical components of the facility are constructed, such as the kitchen and bunkhouses, we will host tailored workshops. Our topics will cover (although not limited to) Chinese language, agriculture, food, and healing, interfaith dialogue, and sustainable building. 

 

Our Museum of Chinese Rural Folk Life is in the curation process. The museum’s goal is to convey the richness of Chinese rural traditions that are embodied in a Chinese house, and to understand how everyday life in rural China was transformed by key state policies and historical events during the revolutionary and reform periods of the last century. We will offer self-guided in person and virtual tours of the Museum of Chinese Rural Folk Life in the future. 

 

In the next two years, we hope to initiate The Jianchuan Pavilion Project, which will connect master carpenters from the Jianchuan Craftsman Cooperative in Jianchuan, Yunnan with craftmasters from the West Virginia Timber Framers Guild to collaborate on a pavilion. This pavilion will not only complete the courtyard and provide lodging for visitors, but this people-to-people exchange could foster mutual understanding among communities that don’t often have the opportunity to participate in cultural exchanges: working craftsmen from rural areas.