9th -14th January 2016

6 days/ 5 nights
6300 CNY (twin share)
(Please enquire about group booking discounts)

A spectular Shaman festival set in the beautiful rice terraces of Guizhou in South Wesern China! There is a NO biking on this trip but great hikes through high mountain Dong and Miao villages, rice terraces and a rare festival that brings you into the heart and soul of the colourful Miao hill tribes.

We are all about getting you off the beaten track usually on a bicycle but sometimes not.
This trip is a NOT.

Itinerary

Wind and rain bridge in Dong Village

Jan 9 – Zhaoxing
D
Zhaoxing now connects by high speed rail with Guiyang, Guilin, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
Arrive Congjiang station anytime today and we will meet you at the station and drive the short distance to Zhaoxing – a charmingly renovated village with five drum-towers, five opera stages, five wind-and-rain bridges, belonging to the five big Zhaoxing clans. Arrive as early as you can to enjoy dinner together followed by a very worthwhile outdoor culture show as the sun goes down over the surrounding mountains.

Day 2 Zhaoxing to Congjiang
BLD
Congjiang is 50 km to the South (nowhere near Congjiang station for those arriving by high speed train). This is the Dong lands, famous for Indigo production and very fine weaving.
We visit a number of notable but rarely visited Dong villages as we drive to Congjiang.
Fires will be blazing under the communal drum towers at this time of year, and looms will be clicking as people use the downtime from the fields to dye, weave and sew homespun cotton into festival ware.

Tradtional hand made indigo clothing.

Day 3 Miao Shaman Festival
BLD
The festival is hosted in a Miao village outside Congjiang. The exact site and time is not broadcast by the Shaman until a few days before hand. We visit a tea plantation and travel through some beautiful countryside on the way to the festival, lunch with a local family, assisted by our own chef who will bring in extras as preparations for the festival are underway.
First up is the ancestor worship ceremony held at village shrine by the shaman and headman. Women dressed in silver, indigo and their finest weavings arrive and start circle dancing as the men take to the giant bamboo wind organs called Lusheng.

The holy festival is held once a year and the date for hosting it has not changed in recent years. If it does it will be by a day and the itinerary can adapt.
Return to hotel in Congjiang.

Day 4 Donglang Hill Tribe Markets, Rice Terraces and Village Homestay
BLD
30 kilometres in the upper reaches of the Duliu River is a fantastic midday market . Black Miao people come from their high mountain homes to trade. The Shui people who live by the river come by boat.

Rice terraces early spring.

The market is a photographers dream.
In the afternoon we trek through rice terraces better than the famous Longji terraces of Guangxi but without the tourists. Our homestay is a highlight of the trip and a chance to really get to know the lives and the culture of a Miao hill tribe family. BLD

Hiking in the rice terraces

Day 5 Rice Terraces Hike
BLD
Wake early for sunrise views across the village and mountains. The chickens will be your alarm.

After breakfast we bus twenty kilometers to a village from where we hike four hours through terraced fields and more hill tribe villages to the to the Duliu River. We cross by ferry where our bus and luggage will be waiting to drive us on to Rongjiang – named for the Banyon trees which line the river. BLD

Day 6 Rongjiang – Departure Day
B
Visit Rongjiang’s old town with its spectacular drum tower and village temples — time allowing.

Depart according to your train schedule home.

Included

Five nights accommodation including one night home stay, all meals from Saturday night arrival dinner to Thursday morning departure breakfast, entry to Zhaoxing Dong culture village, twin-share accommodation (single supplement available for RMB 600), transfers whilst on trip.

Not Included

China Visa, personal items, alcohol, flights/ train tickets, tips.

Getting there

Trip joining point is Zhaoxing in Guizhou, a beautifully preserved Dong Village with an easy and comfortable tourist culture. You will be picked up from Conjiang Station, just a few kilometres from our guesthouse in Zhaoxing.
Trains to Conjiang Station arrive from Guangzhou (4 hours) via Guilin (1 hour) twice a day.
Four trains per day travel from Guiyang in under two hours.