Shuiyu village is located in the deep mountains in the Nanjiao township in Fangshan district of Beijing, with more than 100 well-protected residential houses built in Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. It was listed in the first batch of villages collected in China's traditional villages catalog in 2012. [Photo by Lao Cai/Asianewsphoto]

Chinese traditional villages are places that boast both tangible and intangible cultural heritage and have relatively high historical, cultural, artistic, social and economic values, but their continuing decline is worrisome. Here is a look at eight traditional villages collected in China's traditional villages catalog.

So far, three batches, or 2,555 villages in total, have been collected in China's traditional village catalog.