Architecture on the Road
PHOTOJOURNAL OF HUANGGANG, AUTHENTIC DONG VILLAGE FROM GUIZHOU PROVINCE
In August 2019 my family and I traveled to the Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture in Eastern Guizhou Province to explore the land and culture of some of the unique ethnic minority groups of China.
One of our main points of interest was the Dong minority, which is one of the 56 ethnic minorities officially recognized by the Chinese government, largely settled in the hills and valleys of Guizhou Province.
We used Zhaoxing – the biggest Dong village – as a base to explore the surrounding countryside.
Zhaoxing thought is becoming more and more of a popular destination, and is recently opening up to tourism, as shown by the entrance ticket, and the large number of hotel and local products souvenir shops.
Aiming to get in touch with a less beaten destination, we decided to visit the Dong village of Huanggang (黄岗村 – Huánggǎng cūn).
Huanggang village is located a 1h drive from Zhaoxing, remotely nestled in a small valley.
Part of the high speed road we took to get there seems to be a fairly recent construction. Once we left the high speed road however, the local road was all sharp hairpin turns over cliffsides, explaining why this village has remained mostly untouched and unspoiled by the new Ethnic Minorities tourism trend which is thriving in many other similar destinations in southern China.
Huanggang is indeed a great place to visit the local Dong culture and admire the vernacular dong architecture; a defining feature of the village is the presence of several beautiful drum towers, the most significant landmarks, that dominate the wooden houses.
The drum towers are a fundamental feature of every Dong village, and in the bigger settlement is possible to find more than one. This is because every drum tower is built by a specific family clan, so larger villages with more than one clan will have several towers.
Drum towers are pyramidal buildings of different heights up to 13 stores, usually with a square, hexagonal or octagonal base. They have similar features, but a deeper look reveals that every drum tower is indeed unique: in fact every clan take pride in decorating their drum tower with original paintings and decorations and tridimensional wooden figures , featuring scenes from the Dong culture, lifestyle and beliefs.
Drum towers can be regarded as hearts of every Dong village, as their function is to host under their shelters the community space used for events, recreational activities, gatherings and socializing and in ancient times to solve disputes.
Inside there are wooden benches positioned around a fire pond, with the function of keeping the climate under the wooden structure dry.
I was particularly pleasured by observing the drum towers of Huanggang! The level of decorations is really impressive, and the more you look at them, the more you find beautiful details worth careful attention!
EXPLORING HUANGGANG DONG VILLAGE
Strolling around Huanggang Dong village offers the great opportunity to observe the lifestyle of the Dong people, busy in their daily chores, almost oblivious to the few visitors.
Tourism in fact don’t seem to be a big deal here, so don’t really expect anything touristy or commercial.
The village is smaller than Zhaoxing, and can be entirely walked in a couple of hours.
I suggest to take walk up to the viewpoint in front of the village, to enjoy a beautiful panorama over the roofs.
HOW TO GO TO HUANGGANG DONG VILLAGE
Zhaoxing village or Congjiang Railway Station are the main tourist hubs of the county and the most accessible points to head to Huanggang from other places in Guizhou and the surrounding Provinces.
Once there, he best way to get to Huanggang is to take a taxi or hire a driver.
The ride is around 30 km take approximately 1h.
The visit of Huanggang dong village is free (updated to August 2019)
After the bigger and more commercial Zhaoxing, Huanggang represent indeed a smaller and authentic reality, where the traditional costumes and lifestyles are still well preserved.
The village is still off the beaten paths, but its location (remote in a valley but only 1 hour from Zhaoxing) makes the journey relatively easy compared to other unspoiled Dong villages, so remote and inaccessible that require real ‘expeditions’.
I found the time and effort to travel to Huanggang absolutely worth it and I believe that, when in Zhaoxing, a half day excursion to Huanggang is definitely a great choice.
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