"Kaili-Langde-Xijiang" Kaili by travel7seas

Kaili Travel Guide: 13 reviews and 51 photos

Visits to Miao Minority Villages

About 1 1/2 hour bus ride SE of Guiyang, Guizhou Provence in SW China is Kaili - one of the larger and more commercial Miao towns in the area. Another 1 1/2 hour bus ride takes you out to the true Miao villages like Langde and Xijiang where life is still very much the same as it was 200-300 years ago. Below are short writeups on each area. For more detail, take a look at my travelogue of the trip to these areas...

Langde - a small Miao village

Uppder Langde village

Langde was a great example of traditional Miao village. With about 300-400 families living there, it is just as active today as it was 200-300 years ago. And life seems to go about the same - you still can see farmers working the land, water buffalos pulling plows in the rice paddies and columns of dried animal feed neatly stacked onto poles.

Xijiang

Dawn over Xijiang

Xijiang is one of the largest Miao villages in the area with about 4000 inhabitants. It was here that we had one of the warmest receptions from the Miao people. For 5rmb a night per person, we got to stay with a local family in their spared rooms. And without prompting, the extended family welcomed us to join them for a traditional Miao hotpot dinner including generous offerings of rice wine and hours of chatting. Good times.

Pros and Cons

Pros:Warmth of the people, beautiful scenery
Cons:A bit far away to get to and out of the way
In a nutshell:If you can stand the long bus rides, worth the trip!

Last visit to Kaili: Mar 2003
Intro Updated Aug 14, 2003
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Travelogues (1)

Written Aug 14, 2003

7 photos

Simple and gracious: Miao Villages

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Comments (4)

nepalgoods Dec 12, 2006 at 9:49 PM Report Abuse

Excellent travelogue! Very interesting story about this off-the-beaten-path-area!
naranja May 11, 2004 at 1:24 AM Report Abuse

Guizhou and its minorities was an experience we shall never forget. Nature's beauty and the hospitality of the people touched us deeply! Thanks for your wonderful pages!
herzog63 Aug 15, 2003 at 8:14 AM Report Abuse

It's experiences like this that make traveling so fun! I loved the story! I am surprised to hear about the NBA game though...I guess Michael rules the world!!
Confucius Aug 14, 2003 at 1:53 AM Report Abuse

Nice to see photos of Guizhou province on VT pages. Even domestic Chinese tourists know little about this place and its Miao villages and festivals. Only 5 RMB/night? Such cheap accomodations!