The Hu Wenguang Memorial Arch stands at the village entrance — three stories of carved grey stone that announce Xidi before you enter it. Built in 1578 to commemorate a successful official career, it is a formal declaration in stone of exactly the values that built this village: the conversion of commercial wealth into social status through the mechanism of official examination. Huizhou merchants funded their sons' educations and waited for exactly this kind of return.
The carving is intricate and well-preserved: dragons, cloud patterns, and inscription panels with text recording the honors conferred. The scale is impressive for a provincial village — this is architecture built to impress visitors arriving by the main road, which it continues to do. It is the first significant object most visitors encounter and sets the tone for the whole village: prosperous, formal, and invested in permanence.