Che’erying Village

The Che’erying Village is also called the Cheying Village. Located in the middle of the mountain slope about 200 meters above the sea level, the village occupies 120 mu of land and has over 3,000 mu of hillside land. Of the 320 people in 87 households, 31 percent are engaged in farming. The village has an interesting history. Textual research indicates that when General Qie Jiguang of the Ming Dynasty was ordered to guard the Great Wall, he drilled his troops in Jizhou, Changping and other places. His subordinates once established in the Western Hill a garrison called the Zuoche Youji Barracks. That was a result of Qie Jiguang’s reform and also a force of the troops of the Ming Dynasty, armed with new weapons. It was an embryonic form of the modern artillery troops. The theory and practice of the barrack warfare represented the progress and development of China’s ancient military techniques.

The Che’erying Village mainly grew rice, wheat and other crops before the 1979s and fruit trees after the 1980s. It became famous in Beijing for its “yubada” apricot. The village became the first folk customs tour village in Haidian District, with 24 households being exclusively responsible for receiving tourists.