Scenic spots:
There are numerous scenic spots in South Guizhou worth a visit,
Xiaoqikong(Seven minor arches stone bridge)is one of the most famous
ones, followerd by Daqikong(Seven big arches stone bridge) in Libo,
Jiacha waterfall in Pingtang, Big and small wells in Luodian and the
like.
Xiaoqikong lies in
Maolan national class nature reserve which was named as a world
nature heritage in 2007. Xiaoqikong is featured by cascades, virgin
forests, forests on water, lakes. The representative spots are Laya
Waterfall, Sixty eight cascades, forests on water, Manderin duck
lake and Wolong Pool. A hiking tour in the park is very interesting.
For more information
of other scenic spots in South Guizhou, please contact the travel
agency.
The ethnic group museum and old street in Duyun are worth a visit
too.
Minority
villages:
A few minority villages in the region are very interesting and
worth visiting where you can see Yao people, Shui, Buyi, Maonan,
Raojia and different kind of Miao such as Small flower Miao, White
collar Miao, Hundred bird Miao, Sea shell Miao, Blue Miao and Iron
smith Miao.
Small
flower Miao village:
Just few adventure travellers have been to the Small flower village,
thus it's really worth a visit, especially suitable for FIT. In
the village, you will see indego dyeing, wax printing in lucky,
the villagers are hospitable too. Their costume is extremely beautiful
and unique, even nowadays married women still wear pleated batik
skirt. The annual festival on the first lunar calendar is also interesting,
during the festival, local men play Lusheng(Bamboo flute musical
instrument), and girls follow the step in a circle in finely made
festival dress.
White
pant Yao village:
I also highly recommend the White pant Yao village, their costumes
and architectures are excellent. The White pant Yao has a small
population in the province and they mainly live in the very poor
and remote regions, so they seem much poor than the other minority,
they especially lacks of drinking water and natural water for irrigation.
Shui
village:
There are some Shui villages in the region worth visiting where
you could see the famous horse-tail embroidery, the best patterns
can be found on baby carrier.
The recommended villages are Shuige, Shuiba, Zhenlei, Banmiao, Yangwen,
Langmu and Bangao.
18miles away from Duyun-the capital city of South Guizhou, Langmu
Shui village is the hometown of folk papercut. The village is surrounded
by green trees and beautiful scenery. Now there is a song and dance
group in the village displaying the village's songs, dances, embroidery
and papercut after it's opening to foreign tourists in 2002.
Raojia
village:
About 9 miles away from Duyun in the town of Luobang lived an
unrecognized ethnic group called Raojia which is not included in
the 55 minorities. Their house strucures, costume, festivals, wedding
ceremony are different from the others.
Pojiao Miao village:
Pojiao Miao village
is 22 miles away from Duyun City. Some 300 families live in the
village, and they are all Miao. The village is so called Pojiao,
because it lies at the foot of the moutain. All the houses here
are made of wood-China fir or pine, the houses on stilts are from
2-3 stories. If you are willing to spend some money, you may ask
them to have the performance during which you will see Lusheng,
hear folk songs and drink rice wine. You may also purchase Miao
embroidery and silver ornaments.
Festivals
in Huishui county:
There are a few interesting festivals in Huishui county among
the minorities, namely March 3rd, April 8th, June 6th and Tiaohuachang(Dancing
on the flower ground)
March 3rd: A grand Lusheng gathering was held on this day, more
ceremonious activities such as horse race and antiphonal singing
were arranged to worship ancestors.
April 8th is also called Picking vegetables festival or Eating black
glutineous rice festival, on this day, the Miao in festival dress
from nearby villages get together and dance Lusheng in order to
commemorate forefathers and for fun.
Sandu
county:
Being the only one Shui autonomous couty in the county, Sandu
is located in the southeast of South Guizhou with a latitute of
25-26 degrees north the equator and a longitude of 107-108 degrees
east the equator, borders Leishan and Rongjiang counties in the
east, Libo in the south, Dushan and Duyun in the west. The county
is 56km long from the east to the west and 78km from the south to
the north. It covers a total area of 2400 square kms with a topography
of high in the northwest and low in the southeast.
The average elevation of Sandu is 500-1000 meters, its highest point
reaches 1665.5 meters and lowest place is 303 meters. The county's
average annual tempreture is 18 degrees centigrade with an annual
rainfall of 1349.5 mm.
The county includes 10 towns and 11 townships, 270 villages with
a total population of 324000 in which the minority makes up 96.4%.
64.8% among them is the Shui which makes up more 50% of the total
of the Shui in China.
Sandu has a long history of some 1360 years, thus a lot of interesting
sites can be found in the region and rich minority culture is well
preseverd where you could see the famous horse tail embroidery,
exquisite papercuts. The Shui and Miao in the region still keep
their peculiar hailstyle and beautiful costume, and all these is
worth visiting. You may see the traditional festivals such as Duan
festival and Mao festival in lucky.
Recently a few interesting minority villages in the county were
opened to tourists, the recommened ones are Shuige Shui village,
Banmiao Shui village, Bangao Shui village, Tangdang village, Yangweng
Shui village, Zenlei village and Gaozhai Miao village.
The markets in Bajie, Dujiang, Zhonghe and Dayu are very interesting
too.
Duan
Festival of the Shui:
Calculated and decided by the Shui's lunar calendar, Duan festival
of the Shui is similar to the Spring festival of the Han. Duan festival
is called " Jieduan" by the Shui which is from December
to the next February in the Shui lunar calendar, similar to August,
September and October of the Han chinese lunar calendar. The festival
is held on the pig days lasting 72 days which is regarded as the
largest festival in the Shui region and the longest period festival
in the world.
Eighth, ninth and tenth lunar months are the end and beginning
of the Shui lunar calendar, it is also the season when the rice
is ripe. In the Shui language, " Jie" means eating or
spending, " Duan" indicates the beginning of the year
in Han language meaning to worship ancestors and cherish for bump
harvest, also it's a get-together time for the whole family members.
Called " Hai", the day of the pig is on the 12th place
belonging to water from which all things on earth originated. So
to choose December, January and Feburary of the Shui calendar as
the time to spend the Duan festival means the coming of the year,
also pray for favorable weather for the crops, good heath for the
family, making more money from raising domestic animals in the coming
new year.
" worshipping ancestors", " worshipping Duan slope",
" worshipping Xideng", " worshipping bronze drum"
are the main ceremonious activities during the Duan festival. Sacrificing
ancestors in the Duan festival is a must activity for every Shui
family. From the thirtyth day(the day of the dog) on the last moth
of the old year to the first day(the day of the pig) of the new
year, every fa mily prepare plenty of food such as Carp boiled with
leek, pumpkin, eggplant, fruits, rice on the table in order to worship
ancestors, it is called " Yulunduan" in the Shui language.
On the morning of the day of the pig, all family members and relatives
get together and worship ancestors by offering food to the shine,
burning joss stick, money paper before eating the food so as to
pray for good fortune from the ancestors. Usually a pig whose hair
has been plucked was placed on the table too as the sacefice for
the ancestors. Then some families start to beat bronze drums. In
the afternoon after the big family banquet lunch, the villagers
go to the festival ground enjoying horse race, bullfight, chess
playing, Lusheng playing, rowing dragon, singsing Shui folk songs,
bronze drum beating. Vendors are yearn for selling goods, kids are
cry for candies from mother, on the festival ground, you also see
the gorgeous horse tail embroidery baby carrier-the masterpiece
of Shui women's wisdom and hardwork, everyone was deeply intoxicated
with the sprit of the festival till darkness arrives.
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