I just came back after leading a group of 20 through the
southern and southeastern regions of Guizhou. This is the part of Guizhou that
is full of ethnic minority villages and enclaves. In addition to the great
diversity of people in colorful native apparel, the rugged terrain of Guizhou offered
spectacular scenery. It was the most fun and fascinating trip ever for my
fellow travelers and me.
Lots of people do not know where Guizhou is. Even many
Chinese don't. It is a landlocked province in southern part of China, one of
the least economically developed regions of China.
With the tourism boom going on in China, Guizhou will become
a future hot destination, first for domestic citizens within China and then
later for western tourists that have already been to the popular
Beijing/Shanghai/Xian/Guilin circuit.
China is a land of beautiful scenery and Guizhou has its
share. We visited Huangguoshu (yellow fruit tree meaning tangerines) Falls
In other words, only park service
vehicles inside the park, designated walkways for visitors, conveniently
located trash and recycle bins, and relatively odor free restrooms.
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| Huangguoshu Falls at top right
and
Xiaoqikong (seven small arches) Scenic Area in Guizhou. Both are world-class
attractions and the good news is that these areas are being managed in a way
consistent with their world-class status.
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| students at the Xiaoqikong cascades |
We walked through villages belonging to Miao, Dong, Buyi,
Shui and Yao people. We even stayed in Zhaoxing, a town with five clans of Dong
people. We learned to tell the difference between the long skirt, short skirt
and mushroom Miao people by their costumes. We even went to a Gejia village
where the people are striving to be recognized by the central government as a distinct ethnic group and
not as a branch of the Miaos.
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| Short skirt Miao |
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| Long skirt Miao |
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| Mushroom Miao |
The displays in the Gejia museum claim that they are
descended from northeast corner of China and Hou Yi, the legendary hero who
shot down extra suns in the sky and saved earth from a scorching demise, as
their ancestor. Hou Yi is a legendary figure that also has a place in the Han
Chinese folklore.
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| Gejia people |
By oral tradition, the Miaos believe that they migrated
southward from the Yellow River basin before recorded history when their
forefathers lost the battle to Huangdi and his coalition of warriors and were
forced to vacate their farmlands. Since Huangdi is the legendary founder of the
Hans, this is a case where the two sets of people are looking at opposing sides of
the same legend.
In Zhenyuan we found a more recent example of seeing two
interpretations of the same set of facts. Rated as one of China’s most
beautiful ancient towns, Zhenyuan has the beginning of the southern Great Wall
that runs eastward to Fenghuang in neighboring Hunan province. In Zhenyuan, we
were told that the wall was built by the Miaos to keep the Hans out. A few
years earlier, we went to see the southern wall in Fenghuang and we were told
that the wall was to keep the Miaos out--one wall, two interpretations.
There are many signs and indications that Guizhou is getting
ready for big time development in tourism. The roads are paved, in many cases
double lanes in each direction. Some relied on switchbacks to climb and go
around the many mountains but we did get on the Xiarong superhighway that was
breathtakingly amazing. In a total stretch of around 400 kms, there were 163
tunnels, many over 5 km long, and most likely as many elevated flyovers, some
hundreds of feet above the valley floor. This superhighway did not bend or
switchback but simply went straight through mountains and soared over rivers
and valleys. We were told that the construction company that built the
superhighway is now working in Africa.
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| Ancient town of Zhenyuan |
Even in the most remote village on the mountainside, we saw
satellite TV dishes and solar panels deployed for street lighting in public
areas. These modern conveniences along with the superhighways will inevitably
change the life style of the people in these villages.
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| Working lunch for Dong men Note satellite dishes in rear |
Tourism itself will affect and possibly alter the native
culture of these ethnic minorities. The Ping’an village in the Longji Scenic
District located in neighboring Guangxi is representative of the contradiction
in tourism. Unlike the villages in Guizhou, Ping’an sitting above the mountain
ridge has been long known as the place to go to see spectacular arrays of
terrace rice paddies. One measure of its readiness for tourism is the fast and
free wifi at the hotel and numerous coffee shops that serve real expresso
rather than instant coffee.
To help the tourists make the steep climb to the hotel from
the mid-level where the park operated bus stops, there are middle age women
ready to carry our backpacks and carry-ons up to our hotel. They can earn $5-7
for each trip up or down and on a good week, they can earn a lot more money
than they can farm on the rice paddies for the year. On the other hand, if they
let the paddies go uncultivated, the reason for the tourists to visit would go
away. Thus it’s been necessary for the government to subsidize the farmers so
that they would have the incentive to keep on farming.
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| Yao women porters |
This is the kind of classic dilemma and trade-off between
keeping a native culture pristine and buffing it for the tourist. In front of
the village entrance, Zhaoxing builds a new complex consisting of a shiny
flower bridge, towers and water wheels. It’s jarringly fresh looking especially
compared to the old weather beaten bridges and towers inside the village.
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| Zhaoxing, a Dong village |
Walking through various villages, our guide repeatedly
reminded us not to offer money in exchange for taking the photos of local
residents. We don’t want to develop such an expectation, he said. It was a
positive sign that he still had to give us the warning, which means the bad
habit has not set in, but then inevitably it will.
The government is trying to perpetuate the various native
cultures by providing facilities for special education. We drove past a new
high school campus, not quite finished that will allow Miao students to live in
and focus on the studies of Miao culture, one of the major ethnic groups in
this part of China. Will it be enough to preserve Miao’s ethnic identity in
face of urbanization, television and lure of modernization? Ironically, the
Miao culture does not believe in education, which may do more to slow the
dissipation of their culture.
Far from cultural genocide that China’s critics often like
to accuse China of doing, the government policies are designed to encourage
maintaining the native customs and practices. Will it be enough to keep the Miaos
from going the way of American Indians, donning war paints and performing the
rain dance only for fee paying tourist cameras? It’s hard to know at this point
but my guess is that the Miao people won’t become so banal so quickly.
* * *
Our itinerary was created by Dragon Delight, our tour
operator. They were prompt and responsive to our queries and delivered everything
they promised. The English speaking guide was excellent and exceeded our
expectation. The driver was steady and conservative, important attributes for
driving around the mountainous roads. Dragon Delight also offers group
rate discount starting from a group as small as six, increasing the discount with increasing size. With a group of 20, the
per person rate was a real bargain. For anyone considering going based on our
itinerary and has more than two weeks to spare, I would recommend extending an
extra day stay at Guiyang, Zhenyuan, Libo and Zhaoxing. There are plenty to see and do in Guizhou and extra days in one place would make the tour more leisurely and enjoyable.
