Along the traces of Miaos and Dongs

The southeast of Guizhou is one of the ethnic richest regions of China, inhabited by more than 20 minorities. The main of them are Dong and Miao. They are very different from Han-Chinese, characterizing themselves with unique hair dressing, costumes, singsongs, dwellings, food etc. Their traditional lifestyle has been well preserved and is still being practised in many aspects of their daily life.

In a Dong village, for example, you can always see a few drum towers, which stand for a meeting/entertaining place for its residents, and the wind-rain-bridges (coved corridor bridges). Dong people are very good at singing, unaccompanied and multi-toned, extremely impressing when hundreds of them singing together. The Miao people live mostly in the mountains, used to make a living by hunting or logging. Even today, the Miao men cut their hair with a sickle. Miao don’t build neither drum tower nor wind-rain-bridge, instead they live in the hanging houses, erected by bamboo or wood.

For people interested in anthropology, the southeast of Guizhou is a must-see destination to visit and to observe. It is a perfect living museum!