In-depth Southeast Guizhou to Dragon Backbone Terrace
Guizhou of Southwest China has long been remote, stagnant and backward, however, unspoiled by tourism development as seen in surrounding provinces such as Guangxi, Yunnan and Sichuan. Its relative isolation has made the region one of the best kept secrets in China; its stunning landscape, characterized by limestone karst hills, jagged peaks and terraced rice fields, as well as its colorful ethnic minority cultures that have made Guizhou a paradise for anthropologists, photographers and adventurous travelers.
This eight day tour will go into mountains and valleys of Yungui Plateau to explore several charming nature villages, starting from Miao people’s Langde through Banyang River to the southeast end of Guizhou’s Zhaoxing Village of Dong people, and enter the region of Guangxi’s Longsheng.
Detailed Itinerary:
Day 1 Fly in Guiyang / Kaili
Arrive in Guiyang, capital of Guizhou province, and then transfer to Kaili, capital of Southeast Guizhou Region. The rest time is free to refresh.
Day 2 Kaili
In the morning visit the Kaili museum. A short drive from Kaili takes us to Shiqiao village to learn about the art of traditional paper-making. Then drive to Matang village to see the Gejia Miao. Afterwards, we try Guizhou’s local specialty: fish hot pot with sour soup for dinner (Kaili is the best place for this dish). In the evening we check in the best 4-star hotel.
Day 3 Kaili / Mount Leishan / Rongjiang
We will leave Kaili in the morning to visit Langde, a quiet little Miao Village village with traditional wooden houses, cobblestone path and waterwheels. We will dine with the family of the village chief. From then on we will drive most of time through beautiful countryside with terraced hillsides and quaint villages. We next visit Paika Miao village, where local craftsmen still make their traditional musical instrument Lusheng pipes by hand. We head for Rongjiang and stop by Datang, short-skirt Miao village with their unique aquatic granary and gorgeous view of Mountain Leishan. We stay overnight at a 3-star hotel in Rongjiang
Day 4 Rongjiang / Congjiang/Zhaoxin
The morning is spent driving along Rongjiang River with Mount. Leishan on one side. We first stop by Chejiang, a Dong People village by Rongjiang (Banyang) River where some women dry their crops on the ground under the 21-layers Bell Tower; and under huge banyang trees by the river, other women washes clothes and their hairs using river water. Then we continue to drive along the water to Congjiang. Further driving, we will stop by Pingjiang River and change to paddle boat to cross the river to walk around another Dong village by the other side of the river. A short drive around and up the mountain, we will visit Basha Miao People village. The people wear traditional costumes and long hairs. Men are also known for having their hairs cut and shaving with huge sickle. The head will be bold leaving center hairs long and braided into a long plait. Then a 2-hour drive will take us to Zhaoxing, the largest Dong villages in the region with more than 700 households. Typical Dong architecture will be presented here: bridges of wind and rain, bell towers, brook runs under the bridges in the middle of lines of wooden houses. The local women weave on the street, or dye their fabrics in the cooker and then beat their purple and shine blue cloth on the rock. The local villagers will present a performance – ethnic dances and polyphonic style sing-along. We will stay overnight in the Dong style hotel in the center of this village.
Day 5 Zhaoxin
Today we will take a wonderful hiking tour(3hrs). We depart Zhaoxing for Tang An, from here we start hiking. Tang An is a Dong village with rice terrace and Dong ethnic Minority museum. After lunch we will walk around the village. The local villagers will present a performance – ethnic dances and polyphonic style sing-along.
Day 6 Zhaoxing-Chengyang
We depart Zhaoxing for Yangxi. Then we will have lunch at Yangxi after viewing a wind & rain bridge. Afterwards we continue our journey south into Guangxi Province’s Sanjiang, a village of South Dong people, one of the two subgroups of Dong ethnic minority. A short drive further down will take us to Chengyang, a little village with the largest wind and rain bridge. Walking behind the bridge we will see farms and market at the foot of the hill. We stay overnight in Chengyang.
Day 7 Chengyang/Longsheng
We drive to Longsheng in the morning. The terraces are beautiful — a real photographer’s dream and an amazing feat of farming. Thousands of acres, inaccessible by mechanical tools, have to be tilled and cared for by hand. The layers upon layers of rice terrace reach up to 1,000 meters peak. It’s worth staying a whole day there, climbing up to the top for stunning views and great photos. We stay overnight in Longsheng.
Day 8 Longshen/Guilin
You will wake up with the sunrise and glittering rice terrace outside your room. We will leave Longsheng at 13:00 pm to Guilin and fly out.
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