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HomeTravel Guide Special Report Famous Ancient Towns and VillagesZhaoxing Dong Village

Famous Ancient Towns and Villages

• Overview
• Stone Drum Town
• Zhaoxing Dong Village
• Basha Miao Village
• Sanjiang
• Fenghuang Anicent Town
• Other Ancient Towns

Zhaoxing is an old Dong village deeply hidden in the dense mountains. The ancient wooden architecture, century-old practices, the hospitable locals and the fertile terraced fields offer a welcome contrast to joyless, cemented modern cities.

Zhaoxing has been included in the Guinness Book of World Records for its pure ethnic culture. The village is clustered with wooden structures; culminating at the drum towers, the flower bridges and its theater stages.

Weather & climate

Zhaoxing has a sub-tropical monsoon climate, at an elevation of 410 meters. It's rainy and humid throughout the year.

Special Features

Zhaoxing is the largest Dong ethnic community in China with 5 drum towers, and more than 800 households. The town has been little touched by modernization, and its villagers live in their old timber-made houses, wear their traditional clothes and still practice their time-honored traditions. A trip to Zhaoxing will offer a brief taste of this fascinating and isolated Dong community.

Attractions

Drum Towers: The Drum Tower is the symbol of the Dong minority people. There are five Drum Towers in Zhaoxing Village. They were designed by local amateur architects. The whole complex is supported by timbers, no nails or rivets are used at all in the construction. The fact that all drum tower floors are odd-numbered is derived from the tradition in Dong numerology that odd numbers are associated with good fortune and happiness..

Theater Stages: Theater stages are supplementary elements to the drum tower. A theater stage will be found wherever there is a drum tower. One can occasionally encounter colorful local shows performed at these theater stages during important local events.

Zhaoxing River: The Zhaoxing River runs through the village and divides it into two sides. The water in the river is quite shallow and remarkably clear, with the rocks at the bottom clearly visible. Over centuries, the river has had a nurturing effect on the remarkable local culture. The locals can still be seen daily, clustered beside the river washing their rice, vegetables, and even their clothes

Hotels & Food

The best hotel in town is the Zhaoxing Hotel. The food options are quite limited in this region and western cuisine is practically non-existent. It would be advisable to carry snacks for energy while walking around.

Transportation

Guilin-Zhaoxing: Zhaoxing lies along the popular cultural travel route from Guilin to Guiyang. There are mountainous highways from Guilin to Zhaoxing. Be forewarned though, these highways are full of abrupt turns and steep slopes. People prone to carsickness may not enjoy the drive. On the other hand, air connection between Liping and Guilin has been opened recently. It's much more convenient to fly to Liping first, and then proceed to Zhaoxing via bus.

Guiyang-Zhaoxing: The most comfortable and time-saving way is to fly to Liping first and then catch a bus from Liping to Zhaoxing that takes around 1.5 hours.