A vendor is seen at her shop in Erkan Village on the Xiyu Islet of Penghu County, southeast China's Taiwan, July 27, 2012. Erkan Village is known for its aged houses, whose styles are similar to those in south Fujian Province across the Taiwan Strait, also in southeast China. Most of the Erkan residents are surnamed Chen as they have common ancestors who left south Fujian for Penghu to make a living in the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Although many villagers have moved to cities nearby and left their houses abandoned, some architectures are well preserved so as to make the village become a tourism site. Those ancient houses, built with materials made of local corallite and basalt, have witnessed the hard times when the villagers' ancestors earned their livings on the islet. (Xinhua/Hou Dongtao)
