In March 2025, this pair of Chinese and international youth visited Shushan Village in Suzhou together. Three months later, after the reporter completed her full journey across the villages, they met again. [Detail]

Located in northern France, Eguisheim is often celebrated as one of the “Most Beautiful Villages of France.” The combination of traditional winemaking and modern rural tourism has brought new vitality to this old village. [Detail]

Giethoorn is a canal village in the Netherlands with no roads. Residents get around by boat or on foot. Its name dates back to the 18th century, when locals unearthed a large number of wild goat horns in the peatlands. In the 20th century, the film Fanfare brought the village into the spotlight. In recent years, Giethoorn has gone viral on social media, drawing an even greater surge of attention. [Detail]

Pienza, a village founded during the Renaissance, became more widely known through the film Under the Tuscan Sun. “Casa dolce casa” , an Italian saying captures the deep attachment locals feel toward their homes. [Detail]

Barbizon is a small village on the southern outskirts of Paris, near the Forest of Fontainebleau. It rose to fame through art. [Detail]

Shirakawa-go is an old village in central Japan, surrounded by mountains. It was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995.The village is renowned for its well-preserved layout and its unique gassho-zukuri houses.[Detail]

Hillary, a Canadian student at the Academy of Future Education at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, chose Shushan Village in Suzhou for her very first visit to rural China. [Detail]

Villages around the world have unique paths of development, yet they share certain connections. [Detail]