Architecture on the Road
EXPLORING GUIZHOU ETHNIC MINORITIES: QUENIAO MIAO VILLAGE
During my trip to visit the ethnic minority cultures of Guizhou Province, I made a stop in the remote Miao village of Queniao (雀鸟村 – Què niǎo cūn).
Queniao is located in Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture (黔东南 苗族 侗族 自治州), 50 km from Xijiang Qianhu (西江 千户 苗) and 75 km from Kaili, the biggest city in the area (凯里 市).
The village is perched high in the rice terraced mountains, surrounded by quite a spectacular landscape.
Queniao is entirely made out of the traditional Miao type of dwelling, the Diaojiao Lou.
This traditional type of dwelling is made entirely of wood and held together only with joints. No nails are used during the construction, which allows the building to be disassembled, into replaceable parts.
Usually the houses have 3 floors: the first is for livestock, the second is where people live, and the third floor is used for storage.
The whole village of Queniao is quite small, built on a steep terrain, and can be explored in 1-2h.
During my visit the village was extremely quiet and I met just a few old inhabitants and some students.
I personally reached Queniao by private car. This was in fact, the second stop of a 1 day excursion to some remote Miao villages. Departing from Xijiang, I visited Datang, Queniao, Getou and Wudong in the same day.
The village is really remote and the drive to reach it took almost 1h through tight mountain bends.
The village is free to visit and no entrance ticket is required.
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