A bird view of Azheke village in Yunnan province. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Azheke in Yunnan province

Surrounded by cascading rice terraces and verdant greenery, over 60 "mushroom cottages" with brick walls and thatched roofs are regarded by experts as the best-preserved cluster of Hani ethnic group traditional architecture in Yuanyang county, Yunnan province.

For more than 160 years, the tiny village named Azheke has been home to the Hani ethnic group, a name which matches its lush vegetation that means "a place where bamboo forests flourish" in the Hani language.