Cultural journey to Guizhou

By Li Aoxue (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-09-23 20:01

Traditional Miao costumes and customs

Tourists to Guizhou province of southwest China often first want to see Huangguoshu - Yellow Fruit Tree - Falls, one of the world's most spectacular.

Also popular are the caves of Long Gong - Dragon Palace - or the Zunyi meeting site where the Chinese Communist Party reached maturity in 1935. Other noted attractions include Buddhist mountain of Fanjing and rivers that have been creating canyons for millennia.

But scenery is only part of the experience - ethnic villages interspersed throughout add to the allure:

Yunshantun village at Anshun: Today's local villagers are descendants of fort soldiers under Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). The fort is still there today, its door made from stone and its walls hard enough to repel attackers. Women of the village wear the silk belts, white leggings and embroidered boots with an eagle's head is vividly stitched on top.

Xijiang village on Leishan Mountain: One of the largest Miao villages in China, it has thousands of traditional houses. In the year of the tiger it celebrates the Guzang festival - just once every 13 years.

Zhaoxing village at Liping: Traditional Dong homes made from wood without a single nail can reach 25 m in height. Pictures drawn on interior walls depict people and scenery to tell the story of their culture. The village is divided into five sectors according to concepts - Ren (kindness), Yi (loyalty), Li (ritual), Zhi (wisdom) and Xing (credibility).

Stone village at Zhenning: People of the Bouyei minority make their homes from stone. From a distance the village looks like shining silver. On arrival, tourists often find Bouyei girls dyeing fabric along the valley.

Other sites include Longga village at Liuzhi, where a branch of Miao girls wear wood horns; Langde village at Leishan with its cobblestone roads; a Dong village called Xiaohuang at Congjiang, where troupes of singers from the local Dong minority perform their distinctive melodies; and Luoga village at Weining, where the Yi people make masks as they have for thousands of years.