9 Day Miao Lusheng Festival Tour
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It is believed that the Miao people are the descendants of Chiyou's defeated troops, a tribal chief from more than 4,000 years age in China. Thanks to the strong respect and insistence to preserve the Miao traditions, many Miao people in Guizhou are still following the age old life style today. Ancient culture and customs are guarded by the high mountains around. The peaks are always hidden in mist and cloud, together with their mysterious legends. This journey will take you within these shrouded mountains for a memorable learning experience.
- Duration: 9 day(s)
- Location: Guiyang, Kaili, Rongjiang,
Day 1 Guiyang-Kaili (220km, 2.5hr)
- This morning you will be a Guiyangnees, doing morning exercises in the People's Square. You will learn Taiqi, waist-drum dancing, and play peg-top with your Chinese friends.
- After lunch, you will continue for 2.5 hours along the scenic mountain roads to Kaili.
- Pay a visit to the Kaili Museum, it will leave you an overall view of the ethnic costume in Guizhou.
- Overnight in Kaili.
Day 2 Kaili-Chong'anjiang (41km, 1hr) - Kaili
- Drive 3 hours through the beautiful countryside with its terraced hillsides and quaint towns on the way to Chong'anjiang.
- Visit the Miao's Lusheng Festival, seeing the girls' traditional costume and silver ornaments. Join the celebration ceremonies, composed of Lusheng dancing, horse racing, rooster fights, and buffalo fights. This is a good opportunity to learn and join in the celebratory dancing.
- Overnight in Kaili
* The 'Lusheng' is a Miao musical instrument. Lusheng is a Chinese name for the Miao bamboo pipe and translates as ‘reed instrument'. These pipes are most commonly played at festivals related to courtship and are not generally used at religious gatherings.
Day 3 Kaili-Huangping (45km, 1hr) - Kaili
- Drive 2 hours to Gulong village, Huangping County, where another Lusheng Festival celebration is being held. In Gulong, the festival activities are similar to those in Chonganjiang, except that over 1,000 bamboo pipes are played here, a majestic scene yet to be seen anywhere else in this world.
- Stay in Kaili.
Day 4 Kaili-Rongjiang (204km, 5.5hr)
- Drive from Kaili to Rongjiang via Sandu, visit the beautiful Chejiang Dong village and the cluster of old Banian tree on the way. The Dong can be recognised by their turbans (for men), and pleated skirts (for women). They are also known for their architecture, particularly their drum towers, and Feng yuqiao (or wind and rain bridges), which are pavilions for sheltering people during bad weather.
- Stay in Rongjiang guesthouse (simple condition).
Day 5 Ronjiang-Congjiang (76km, 2hr)
- Visit Basha, a small Miao village with few signs of modern influence. The people rarely venture out of the village except for selling firewood and shopping for daily necessities in markets. Both men and women can be seen in traditional costumes, wearing their hair long.
- Visit Yintan, a Dong village built on the top of the mountain with its beautiful landscape.
- Stay in Congjiang guesthouse (simple condition).
Day 6 Conjiang-Zhaoxing (90km, 3hr)
- Drive 3 hour s drive to Zhaoxing, one of the largest Dong villages in the region, with more than 700 households and a population of 4000.
- After dinner, we will be entertained by the Dong people's welcome ceremony (singing and dancing included) right beneath the Dong's Drum Tower.
- Stay in Zhaoxing (poor condition wooden house)
Day 7 Zhaoxing-Sanjiang (110km, 5hr)
- From Zhaoxing, we will continue our journey south into Guangxi Province. We will arrive at Sanjiang, a town inhabited by the South Dong, one of the two subgroups of the Dong ethnic minority.
- A short drive away from Sanjiang will take us to Chengyang, a quaint little village with one of the largest Fengyuqiaos (Wind and rain bridge) in the region. Here we will explore the villages on foot, visiting lively markets and hillside farms.
- Stay in Sanjiang.
Day 8 Sanjiang-Longsheng (80km, 2.5hr)-Guilin (160km, 2hr)
- Leave Sanjiang in the morning to visit Longsheng, where the mountains are covered with terraced rice fields, some of them reaching up to 1,000 m (3,300 ft) peaks.
- Arrive in Guilin in the afternoon.
- Stay in Guilin.
Day 9 Guilin
- Enjoy a free morning to explore Guilin.
- Tour ends.
- This morning you will be a Guiyangnees, doing morning exercises in the People's Square. You will learn Taiqi, waist-drum dancing, and play peg-top with your Chinese friends.
- After lunch, you will continue for 2.5 hours along the scenic mountain roads to Kaili.
- Pay a visit to the Kaili Museum, it will leave you an overall view of the ethnic costume in Guizhou.
- Overnight in Kaili.
Day 2 Kaili-Chong'anjiang (41km, 1hr) - Kaili
- Drive 3 hours through the beautiful countryside with its terraced hillsides and quaint towns on the way to Chong'anjiang.
- Visit the Miao's Lusheng Festival, seeing the girls' traditional costume and silver ornaments. Join the celebration ceremonies, composed of Lusheng dancing, horse racing, rooster fights, and buffalo fights. This is a good opportunity to learn and join in the celebratory dancing.
- Overnight in Kaili
* The 'Lusheng' is a Miao musical instrument. Lusheng is a Chinese name for the Miao bamboo pipe and translates as ‘reed instrument'. These pipes are most commonly played at festivals related to courtship and are not generally used at religious gatherings.
Day 3 Kaili-Huangping (45km, 1hr) - Kaili
- Drive 2 hours to Gulong village, Huangping County, where another Lusheng Festival celebration is being held. In Gulong, the festival activities are similar to those in Chonganjiang, except that over 1,000 bamboo pipes are played here, a majestic scene yet to be seen anywhere else in this world.
- Stay in Kaili.
Day 4 Kaili-Rongjiang (204km, 5.5hr)
- Drive from Kaili to Rongjiang via Sandu, visit the beautiful Chejiang Dong village and the cluster of old Banian tree on the way. The Dong can be recognised by their turbans (for men), and pleated skirts (for women). They are also known for their architecture, particularly their drum towers, and Feng yuqiao (or wind and rain bridges), which are pavilions for sheltering people during bad weather.
- Stay in Rongjiang guesthouse (simple condition).
Day 5 Ronjiang-Congjiang (76km, 2hr)
- Visit Basha, a small Miao village with few signs of modern influence. The people rarely venture out of the village except for selling firewood and shopping for daily necessities in markets. Both men and women can be seen in traditional costumes, wearing their hair long.
- Visit Yintan, a Dong village built on the top of the mountain with its beautiful landscape.
- Stay in Congjiang guesthouse (simple condition).
Day 6 Conjiang-Zhaoxing (90km, 3hr)
- Drive 3 hour s drive to Zhaoxing, one of the largest Dong villages in the region, with more than 700 households and a population of 4000.
- After dinner, we will be entertained by the Dong people's welcome ceremony (singing and dancing included) right beneath the Dong's Drum Tower.
- Stay in Zhaoxing (poor condition wooden house)
Day 7 Zhaoxing-Sanjiang (110km, 5hr)
- From Zhaoxing, we will continue our journey south into Guangxi Province. We will arrive at Sanjiang, a town inhabited by the South Dong, one of the two subgroups of the Dong ethnic minority.
- A short drive away from Sanjiang will take us to Chengyang, a quaint little village with one of the largest Fengyuqiaos (Wind and rain bridge) in the region. Here we will explore the villages on foot, visiting lively markets and hillside farms.
- Stay in Sanjiang.
Day 8 Sanjiang-Longsheng (80km, 2.5hr)-Guilin (160km, 2hr)
- Leave Sanjiang in the morning to visit Longsheng, where the mountains are covered with terraced rice fields, some of them reaching up to 1,000 m (3,300 ft) peaks.
- Arrive in Guilin in the afternoon.
- Stay in Guilin.
Day 9 Guilin
- Enjoy a free morning to explore Guilin.
- Tour ends.
