Travel to the Dong and Miao villages
- Dong and Miao villages :
- Sights, and places of interest : one of the still remaining remote parts of China, where all roads are without asphalt and the Chinese city planners still have not broken down the beautiful wooden villages and replaced them with bathroom tile covered shoe boxes with green windows. The Dong and Miao peoples are two of the many ethnical minority groups in China. They are holding on to many of their old traditions (maybe because of lack of means to change their lifestyles) living in cozy wooden houses built in several floors and with special drum tower buildings for gathering in during special occasions. Many of them where their traditional clothes and hairstyles, especially the women look very spectacular, with big round elephant ears made with the hair on each side of the head.
-Travel between Dong and Miao villages : Moving around in this area is lots of fun! You can easily get from one village to another by a combination of walking and hitch hiking with whatever vehicle that comes along, normally some kind of tractor or truck ( this is the local transport here, you just pay for the stretch you have done when you want to get off ). Between certain villages you can also catch a bus. The landscape between the villages is hilly covered with lush and green vegetation and terrace plantations. For me the combination of the beautiful villages, the super friendly Dong and Miao people and the adventurous freedom I felt while moving around made this my favourite experience in China. Make sure that you have enough cash with you since exchanging money in these remote villages can be problematic, even in big cities as Kaili.
- Budget hotels : Even in the smallest Dong or Miao villages there is always somebody who has a couple of guest rooms where you can stay for 10 to 20 Yuan per night.
- Travel to Zhaoshing : The most touristy Dong village, although it's situated very far from as well Yangshuo and Lijiang as Dali, is Zhaoshing. Once you get there you understand why, it is a very beautiful wooden village with five majestic drum towers. There are five guest houses / hotels in the village. Three of them are slightly difficult to find, but the village is not big so just keep searching. One of the better is Lulu, where you can also get a tasty meal for 15 Yuan. They also have internet where you can surf for 10 Yuan per hour, luxinfeng@hotmail.com.
- Travel to Kaili : A big modern Chinese city. There are 2 cash machines that don't seem to take western cards (not mine anyway). Lots of internet cafes where you can surf on the internet for 1.5 Yuan per hour.
- Travel to Xining : A very nice Miao village surrounded by a beautiful hilly landscape and terrace plantations and a river slowly streaming through that was wonderful to have a swim in. Xining has almost only wooden houses. There are 2 budget hotels in Xining where a double room costs 40 Yuan per night. This is a bit expensive since the rooms are very simple and there is no running water. The people from the hotel brings water from the river to use for washing yourself, clothes etc. If you are staying more than one night they are willing to reduce the price to 20 Yuan per night. You can reach Xining by local bus from Kaili, the trip takes about 4 hours.
