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 six day CCC 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.

Best time to visit

September-December; February-June

Suggested Itinerary

Day 1 Fly in Guiyang / Kaili
Beijing -- Guiyang by plane about 09:00--12:00, Shanghai -- Guiyang by plane about 09:05--11:30.
Other locales: we welcome those to join us from other locales and meet us in Guiyang.

Arrive in Guiyang, capital of Guizhou province, and then transfer to Kaili, capital of Southeast Guizhou Region. A short drive from Kaili takes us to a village to learn about the art of traditional paper-making. 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 2 Kaili / Mount Leishan / Leishan
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 4-star hotel in Leishan.

Day 3 Leishan / Rongjiang / Congjiang
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. En route, we check out Yintan, another Dong People's village where everything seems to be kept intact. 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. In the evening we arrive at Congjiang and check in the hotel.

Day 4 Congjiang / Xiaohuang / Zhaoxin
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 Zhaoxing / Sanjiang
We depart Zhaoxing for Yangxi, on the way we will take a look at Tang An, a Dong village with rice terrace and Dong ethnic Minority museum. 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 Sanjiang.

Day 6 Sanjiang / Longsheng / Guilin / Fly out
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.
You will wake up with the sunrise and glittering rice terrace outside your room. 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 will leave Longsheng at 5pm to Guilin and fly out. 


Guilin - Beijing (arrival around 11-12pm)
Guilin - Shanghai Hongqiao (arrival around 10-11pm)