China News Service, Changting, Fujian, November 14 (Zhu Fangbin) On November 13, local time, at the 21st Annual Meeting of the Global Human Settlements Forum and the New Sustainable Cities and Human Settlements Award Ceremony (GFHS2026) held in Antalya, Turkey, Dingwuling in Changting County, Longyan, Fujian stood out and won the "Global Human Settlements Village Model" award, showing the world Eastern wisdom and practical samples of the living protection of traditional Chinese villages.
The "New Sustainable Cities and Human Settlements Award (referred to as the "New Sasa Award") issued by the Global Forum on Human Settlements (GFHS) is an authoritative award in the field of global human settlement sustainability. This year's selection received a total of more than 300 projects from around the world, 28 of which were shortlisted. In the end, 11 projects won the award. The award-winning projects cover ten categories such as cities, villages, architecture, and planning, and provide replicable practical experience for global urban and rural sustainable development. Lu Li, Secretary of the Changting County Party Committee, was invited to attend the meeting and delivered a keynote speech, promoting the practice of protecting and revitalizing traditional villages in Changting, the Hakka capital of the world, and Dingwuling.
Changting is located deep in the mountains of Changting County, 24 kilometers away from the county seat, with an average altitude of more than 700 meters and a forest coverage rate of 75%. It is a Hakka village with a history of more than 800 years and is known as "the living fossil of the primitive life of the Hakka mountain people." As a well-preserved traditional village in the mountainous areas of southern China that coexists harmoniously with nature, Dingwuling has the characteristics of authenticity, integrity, uniqueness and sustainability. It can be called a paradise and a Chinese-style "nostalgia business card".
There are more than 200 complete ancient Hakka houses in Dingwuling Village. The old rammed earth houses and wooden stilt buildings are spread out in a "T" shape along the valley terrain. The streets and alleys extend naturally with the mountain topography. There is no standardized copying, and the original local style of mud walls, wooden frames, and blue tile roofs are completely preserved. The high altitude, ancient mountain forests, and mountain wind fields jointly create the famous "mosquito-free ancient village". Its living environment where humans and nature coexist harmoniously attracted great attention from the guests attending the meeting.
Over the years, Changting has adhered to the concept of "protection first, revitalization and utilization", abandoned large-scale demolition and construction, rejected excessive commercial development, practiced the principle of "villager main body" protection, and explored the sustainable development path of traditional villages. The local area has acquired and renovated vacant old buildings to improve infrastructure; renovated abandoned old primary schools to create a public service space that integrates homestays, rural aesthetics, exhibitions and social activities; introduced a team of cultural and creative makers to support intangible cultural inheritance and Hakka folk custom performances, creating door-to-door jobs for local people, so that traditional villages are not static heritage specimens on display, but still living homes. Dingwuling is the core area of Dinghuang Village, a traditional Chinese village. It has successively won titles such as national historical and cultural villages and China's rural tourism boutique routes. It has achieved multiple benefits of ecological value preservation, cultural value addition, increased people's income, and rural charm, and has embarked on a new path for the living inheritance of traditional villages.
Dingwuling’s award is also the epitome of Changting’s insistence on ecological priority development. Changting is a world-renowned model of water and soil erosion control. The world-renowned "Changting Experience" was selected as a typical case of ecological restoration in the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, realizing a historic transformation from turbid water and barren mountains to green water and green mountains. The county's forest coverage rate reaches 79.55%, and its soil and water conservation rate is 93.69%. It deeply integrates ecological restoration, cultural inheritance, and industrial enrichment, and contributes China's local practice to global mountainous settlements and rural protection.
Lu Li issued an invitation at the forum, welcoming friends from all over the world to visit Changting and Dingwuling to experience the beauty of oriental habitation in a traditional Hakka village. Changting will also take this award as a new starting point to continue to deepen the protection and revitalization of traditional villages, actively connect with the global sustainable development agenda, strengthen international exchanges and mutual learning, and tell the story of Chinese rural settlements.
