Song Peilun, a Chinese artist, has spent more than 20 years into designing and building a village known as Yelang Valley in Guizhou, China. Spread over two million square feet, this art collection includes astles, lakes, and freestanding towers in the shape of facial features. In order to implement his designs, Peilun quit his job as a professor and built a park out of stone sculptures. It was his way of remembering the Yelang tribes inhabited in the valley 2000 years ago.
According to the records of ancient historians, the Yelang people practiced witchcraft, had unusual hairstyles, and were fierce warriors. The Dancing with Nuo masks that one can see on the sculptures were also an important part of superstitious Yelang beliefs. The remains of these masks heavily influenced the work of Peilum as people believed that they kept strength during hardships as well as protected against evil spirits.
Song Peilum imagined his previously rural village as an inhabited community of like-minded people. Accordingly, several musicians and painters now live in the Yelang Valley today. There even opened new university buildings nearby whose students also help Peilun keep constructing his sculptures.
