Gaoqian Ancient Village is unique in many aspects from site selection, layout, structure, function, shape to its forms of decoration and beautification. Its architectural style belongs to the Huizhou School but has some obvious differences from Huizhou School architecture, with typical architectural features, consciousness of Feng Shui and a folk aesthetic tendency typical of the Ming and Qing dynasties in southeastern Zhejiang.
From a distance, the village blends harmoniously with the mountains and water. Its dwellings are arranged in a staggered, convenient and orderly fashion, and the land around the village is flat, vast and fertile. Reflecting domestic and production needs as well as considerations of Feng Shui, the spatial pattern of the village is laid out from south to north as follows: the Baotong Pagoda, ancient camphor trees, ancient wells, Qixing Pond, Yue Lu River, ancient theater, commercial street and ancestral hall. Each house, road and water system is constructed according to a “Chuan川” format. There are 26 existing houses, one one-li-long commercial street, two ancient ancestral halls, 15 ancient wells and one ancient temple.
The eleven well-preserved ancient houses in the village, one next to the other from east to west, are about 500 meters long, with a layout that has survived for hundreds of years. The architectural style of each is roughly the same, but each has its own characteristics, marking it out as different from the rest and forming, all together, the most representative example of the ancient village style from the Ming and Qing dynasties, in central Zhejiang. The water inlet into the village connected as it is with the rise, fall and overall safety of the village holds an important place within the symbolism of Feng Shui. According to this symbolism, the ancestral hall located in the north of the village guards the village's water inlet. On the east side of the village, some ancient trees had been planted as the “eight golden locks of the village”. According to one elderly old man's recollection, after the Cultural Revolution, the old trees were cut down and used as timber for the construction of the cinema of Baita Commune. The diameter of several of these tree trunks was more than two meters, even higher than men. The ancient dwellings are intertwined with pavilions, terrace, shrines, towers, pagoda, streets and other buildings, forming a beautiful landscape of Chinese landscape painting.
The ancient village of Gaoqian is surrounded by mountains and water, with a well-developed water system, on which the villagers depend. The village water in a unique pattern of “Chuan川” flows from south to north. And the road follows the direction of the water. The “river - pond - well - weir” pattern, constitutes the water management system of the ancient village. Its site layout, spatial relationship, water conservancy facilities, fire and drought prevention features, ecological environment elements and all other aspects have been carefully designed.
There is a small stream to the west of the ancient village of Gaoqian, which originates from the peaks of the 17 Du Shakeng of Jingxing Rock and the water of the Shenxianju of Xiyan Temple. The two rivers previously named Gaoqian Creek eventually converge and flow down. In the past, the trees on both banks of Gaoqian Creek were often cut down indiscriminately, causing serious water and soil loss. When flooded in the spring and summer, the upstream water directly rushed down, and the two banks of Gaoqian Creek were washed and inundated, leaving a vast expanse of water. When the floods passed, the farmland on both sides of the river became a white pebble beach, and people later called the creek “White Water Creek”.