Some buildings in Zhuhai Village are 800 years old. [Photo by Rosemary Bolger/chinadaily.com.cn]

As we emerge from Zhuhai Village's old school – a big room with rows of desks and stools for the boys, a small space for the girls next door – two elderly women are waiting. They are keen for a closer look, not so much at the school house, but to check out the camera-wielding foreigners with strange colored hair. With my colleague's help, I try to ask a couple of questions. They nervously turn to each other, before another of our group declares: "They wish you very big welcome. She says she would never see a foreigner otherwise." One of her relatives offers a slight correction. She has, in fact, seen a foreigner, seven years ago.

Chillies are left in trays to dry in the sun. [Photo by Rosemary Bolger/chinadaily.com.cn]

Either way, if the local authorities have their way, she will not have to wait so long to see men and women of all different shapes and sizes. Zhuhai Village in Jinxi county, Jiangxi Province, is one of a few well-preserved traditional Chinese villages, with some buildings dating back more than 800 years, and the government has recognized its tourism potential.

Its transformation into an attraction is well underway. A newly built walkway leads to the village and by next summer the muddy swamps beneath it will be covered in lotus flowers. A modest gift shop selling locally produced perfumes, shampoos and jewelry has opened and a reality television show 'Dad, Where Are We Going?' has even filmed here.