Abstract: In the protection of traditional villages in the Huizhou region, issues such as the neglect of the continuity of local cultural context have emerged. There is an urgent need to find a contemporary method to deeply explore the landscape characteristics, landscape genes, and application value of traditional villages. Taking Xixinan Village as the research object, a system of five major elements—location, layout, environment, architecture, and culture—and sixteen specific identification indicators were formed to summarize the landscape gene map of Xixinan Village. By analyzing the landscape characteristics of Xixinan Village, excavating landscape cultural genes, grasping landscape development characteristics, restoring the natural environment carrier, and positioning the cultural tourism image, a protection strategy for traditional villages in Huizhou is proposed based on the practical case of Xixinan Village. This strategy focuses on "excavating landscape information elements, defining landscape information points, constructing landscape information corridors, and restoring landscape information networks."

Key words: traditional villages in Huizhou, Xixinan Village, landscape gene map, protection strategy