Blogs from Guizhou, China, Asia

Hi All, From Zhaoxing it was back to CongJiang bus station to find out that there are no buses that go to BaSha so we had to take a taxi, 30 rmb, to BaSha village. The taxi dropped us off at the ticket office, 40 rmb, and then we took the tour bus up to the village. We stayed in the hotel, name I cannot remember, which is just to the left of the village square. The view of the valley from our window was amazing. The hotel also had a great restaurant on the ground floor. BaSha village is a wonderful collection of hamlets that are pretty much unspoilt by tourism. There are some huge wooden racks that are used in the autumn to dry the rice grass. Alongside these there are also a great ... read more

Hi All, Fairly easy to get to ZhaoXing from KaiLi. First a bus to CongYang, about 3 hours, then a bus to CongYang's high speed train station and then finally a bus on to ZhaoXing. There is an entrance fee of 80 rmb which has to be paid before the bus continues on to the village. The village itself has really been spruced up for the tourist trade with masses of restaurants, hotels and shops selling the usual tourist niknaks. Behind the main street and down the little alleyways beats the heart of a working Dong farming village. There are a remarkable amount of drum towers and little wind and rain bridges scattered around the village and the houses down by the river are very pretty. In the evening we went to watch a performance of ... read more

Hi All, these villages are so easy to get to. I often marvel at the efficient public transport system that exists here in China. Today we caught the bus from the Long Distance bus station. The bus drops you off outside the village as you have to buy a ticket, 50 rmb for non Chinese, and then you can either walk, which we chose to do, or pay another 5 rmb and take the sightseeing car. The walk to the village is lovely along a river of crystal clear water in which the local kids were all cooling off from the intense heat. When we arrived at the village proper we were just too late to see the cultural show which they put on twice daily but at least we got to see all the locals ... read more

Hi All, Just a quick stop over in the big city before moving on to do some village hopping around KaiLi. Must admit we have been having quite a bit of trouble on our travels so far this summer in finding hotels that will accept foreign guests. We have had to resort to CTrip on a couple of occasions already. So finaly found a hotel, Austin Boutique Hotel, near the massive QianLing park, which was a bonus as it was the only place we really wanted to visit. It's a great area to stay with the park, a local market and lots of cheap small restaurants nearby. So an afternoon in the park walking up QianLing Shan to visit HongFu Temple. Along the way we came across the wild monkeys who live on the mountain there. ... read more

Liudong is another beautiful and scenic spot nearby Pingtang town. This time, I decided to take a private car getting to Liudong village. It is about 15 kilometers from downtown Pingtang and the drive in is just sensational. Before arriving at the village, we stopped on top of the hill for some beautiful views of the entire valley. We then slowly descended the road until arriving at the village. After agreeing with the private car driver about the pick up time of the evening , I then began to take a look at the area. This place is the home of the Maonan ethnic minorities. In Guizhou there are 17 ethnic minority groups and it is the third largest province in terms of ethnic people in China. But, Guizhou also has some other ethnic groups that ... read more