Among the forested hills of Hangzhou's Xīhú district, where the ancient pilgrimage route to Lingyin Temple winds past centuries-old camphor trees, a cluster of Ming and Qing dynasty village dwellings was quietly restored rather than rebuilt to create Amanfayun. The property's singular achievement is that it barely announces itself — grey-tiled rooftops emerge from the canopy, stone-paved paths thread between pavilions, and the dry-stacked rubble walls that once bounded a working village remain exactly where they were laid. The 42 pavilions, housing rooms and suites across single and two-storey structures, were converted by Architrave Design and Planning with a discipline that kept the structural timber frameworks, exposed rafter ceilings, and geometric lattice screens intact, adding contemporary comfort with a light hand. Inside, the rooms carry the atmosphere of a scholarly retreat rather than a resort — dark-stained timber columns rise to open beam ceilings, while pale ash furniture in the Ming huanghuali tradition sits against whitewashed walls hung with ink-wash scroll paintings. Handwoven rattan pendant lanterns deliver the same warm amber light in both the guestrooms and the bar, where horseshoe-back chairs in a lighter natural rattan gather around a long slate counter beneath black-lacquered beams. At the pool, dark stone surrounds hold still water that mirrors the pavilion rooflines and the tree canopy above, oil lanterns and paper parasols giving the terrace a quality closer to a scholar's garden than a hotel amenity.

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