Luo Zhiguang is grateful to the village heads before him.

The Party chief of Tangxia township's Liangxi village says the people who previously occupied his post did an excellent job of protecting ancient buildings.

And that has made the small settlement a big tourist attraction with growing appeal.

Luo also guides an increasing number of government officials, experts and journalists, who visit the village of 1,600 inhabitants in the Pearl River Delta city of Jiangmen, Guangdong province.

"About 90 percent of the houses in the village were constructed in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and the early period of the 20th century," Luo says.