Dangjia Village, about fifteen kilometres north of Hancheng city on the Yellow River plain, is the best-preserved example of traditional courtyard-house architecture in northern China. The village contains over one hundred and twenty intact courtyard residences built during the Ming and Qing dynasties, arranged along a grid of lanes that has not changed significantly in six hundred years. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2024 as part of the "Traditional Dwellings of Hancheng" inscription.
The village street plan follows a fish-bone layout — a main spine with smaller lanes running off it — typical of the Guanzhong region. The individual courtyard houses are entered through decorated gateways, their interior walls and door panels carved with auspicious motifs in the local sandstone. The village also contains a well-preserved ancestral hall complex and several gate towers that once controlled access to individual family compounds. Some residents still live in the village and will show visitors their homes for a small donation.
Hancheng itself, the nearest city, is about two hours from Xi'an by express bus and has its own historic old town worth an afternoon. Dangjia Village can be reached by local bus from Hancheng, or by taxi.