Feng Jicai,author and artist [Photo provided to China Daily]

Ancient villages refer to those still existing, with such traits as a long history, unique architecture and cultural value.

Kaiyangbao village in Hebei province dates backs to 295 BC in the Warring States Period (475-221 BC).

In East China, Fujian's tulou (fortress-like residences), built with soil, wood and rocks, present a unique style and local culture with their circular or square shapes. The tulou was included on UNESCO's World Heritage list in 2008.

In little over a year, information on more than 240 ancient villages in China have been archived as part of the program.

"We want to set up a model for such archival works," says Feng. "We want the public to know about the ancient villages as well as our work through the new book."

In Heritage of 20 Ancient Villages, the locations are recorded both in text and through photos.

Words mainly describe basic information about the villages, including when and why they were formed and in what state they are today. Photos show images of the villages and depict their cultural heritage, folklore, economy and residents.

"We try to record concrete and comprehensive information in a scientific way－not just the names of those villages－so that in the future when people want to learn about the villages, they can do research based on our archives," Pu says.

"We don't have much time to talk about how to protect them because urbanization is happening so quickly. We have to first compete with time and excavators to record as much information as possible," she adds.

As Feng says, the book and archiving of materials on such villages isn't the work of a single generation alone. The process continues.

"Even after the buildings are torn down, their cultural value will be noted one day," Pu says.

"The archive is open. Anyone with valuable information on the villages can enrich it."