Travel with Phoebe: A 4-Day Natural and Cultural Exploration Trip to Guizhou

Near the May Day holiday in 2024, my friend and I were still discussing where to go this holiday, and after further comparison, we decided to go to Guizhou. As the only province without plains in China, Guizhou proudly boasts its special shape of Karst landform in idyllic, peculiar and amazing charm. After booked hotels and round-trip high-speed rail tickets and air tickets quickly, we finally embarked on this exciting journey and would like to share our Guizhou trip with you now.

7 Days Best of Guizhou Tour with Nature & Culture Highlights

Itinerary: Guiyang / Anshun / Kaili / Libo / Rongjiang / Congjiang / Zhaoxing
Highlights: Huangguoshu Waterfall, Small Seven Hole Scenic Area, Langde Upper Miao Village, Biasha Miao Village, Zhaoxing Dong Village

Day 1: The First Encounter with Guiyang

Since many people travel at the same time during Golden Week in China, the station and traffic tend to be very congested. Having considered that, we arrived at the station early and stepped on the high speed train from Chengdu to Guiyang successfully. After around 3.5 hours ride, we finally arrived in Guiyang. Guiyang as the capital city of Guizhou, is surrounded by mountains, and also well known as the “Forest City” and “Plateau Pearl”.

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Arriving in Guiyang just in time for lunch, how can we come to Guiyang but not try the local cuisine? “Cool” is not only about the cool summer in Guiyang, but also about the delicious and refreshing Guiyang cuisine. There are street food such as Siwawa (a kind of vegetable spring roll), Loving Beancurb Puff and Yams Baba, and specialties such as Fish in Sour Soup, Huaxi beef Rice Noodles... We found a local specialty restaurant to eat Sour Soup Beef Hotpot. The flavor was a little spicy and sour, and also very appetizing. After lunch, we wandered around downtown and went for ice slurry, which was very refreshing.

Delicious Sour Soup Beef Hotpot & Ice Slurry

Then we moved to Qianling Park, which named after the First Mountain in Guizhou. It is located at the center of Guiyang with sentient and clever wild macaques, a sizable zoo with cute pandas, clean water and ancient temples, where is a great escape from the crowds and city noise. Because we went late, we only saw the monkeys on the mountain, which still a little bit of regret for me, but the macaques were definitely the most highlight in here. They were very lively and active, and we could see them up close as we walked around playing and bickering with their peers, it was a funny experience for us.

Qianling Park & Adorable Wild Macaques

In the evening, we continued to Jiaxiu Tower and enjoyed the night view of here. Jiaxiu Tower as the symbol of Guiyang city, is a Chinese typical tower built in Ming dynasty. When lights on at evening, the dappled light spilled out through the architecture, makes it become a beautiful scenery in the city.

Jiaxiu Tower at Night

Day 2: Nature Exploration in Huangguoshu Waterfall

Today, we came to Anshun and visited Huangguoshu Waterfall. Huangguoshu Waterfall is the largest waterfall in Asia and the third largest one in the world, which consists of three attractions: Doupotang Scenic Area, Tianxingqiao Scenic Area and Huangguoshu Waterfall. Huangguoshu Waterfall as the largest and most famous one is the most beautiful and magnificent waterfall famous around the world. Its spectacular waterfall can be admired from different angles. Besides that, many spectacular Karst Caves and lakes also attracted numerous visitors.

Huangguoshu Waterfall from Different Angles

It was also one of the shooting places of “Journey to the West”, which is one of the Four Great Classical Novels in China. The main character of this novel - Monkey Sun, has a fascinating hometown - Huaguo Mountain and there is a water curtain cave named Shuilian Cave. We walked to the back of the waterfall and came to the cave inside, it was very cool and the view of the waterfall was stunning. There would be water splashing on you though, so if you mind that, you can prepare a raincoat in advance and put it on when you go there. Furthermore, Huangguoshu Waterfall Scenic Area requires a lot of walking, so comfortable sneakers are highly recommended.

Filming Location of Journey to the West

Day 3: In-depth Exploration of Nature and Culture

Next day, we continued our journey to Libo county, where featured with the splendid natural scenery and also strong ethnic characteristics. We first came to the UNESCO World Heritage Site - Seven Small Arches Scenic Area, which is known as “the emerald on the earth's belt” and can be said to be the most highlight of Libo. Fantastic natural scenery of 68 levels of waterfalls, primitive forest, emerald lakes and ancient seven arches bridges combining together forms a super bonsai! The verdant green mountains reflected in the emerald green water, swimming fish in the water to and fro, clearly visible.

Beautiful Scenery of Seven Small Arches Scenic Area

At the end of the day, we transfered to Kaili for accommodation. Kaili, located in east Guizhou, is the capital of Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture. It is called “a Pearl of Southeast Guizhou” with many ethnic groups living in there, including Miao, Dong, Mulao, She, Bouyei, Shui and more ethnic minorities. Among them, Miao is the largest ethnic group with 2.84 million people and Xijiang Miao Village is the largest Miao village in there.

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Xijiang Miao Village

Xijiang Miao Village is called the “Open-air Museum” of Miao ethnic group with thousand-household, where you can explore typical Miao culture. We put on local costumes and climbed up the observation deck to fully enjoy the night view of Xijiang Miao Village and also took many beautiful photos as unforgettable memories.

Amazing Night View of Xijiang Miao Village

Day 4: Delve into the Local Miao Culture

Today was a sunny day. The daytime view of Xijiang Miao Village is also amazing. As the largest Miao settlement in China, almost all of the wooden stilted houses are built on the hillside. We totally enjoyed the panoramic view of Xijiang Miao Village from different angles. There is no hustle and bustle of the city, you can fully enjoy yourself into the tranquillity in here.

Panoramic View of Xijiang Miao Village

We also went to the local museum to know more about the local culture. At Miao Nationality Museum, we learned a lot about the history development of the Miao ethnic group, and also their living customs, architectural techniques, medicine, clothing and silver jewelry, etc.

Exhibits in Miao Nationality Museum

At afternoon, we had to back to Guiyang and this journey is coming to the end. All in all, this trip has far exceeded than our expectations. It was a very meaningful trip for us. Through this trip, we not only enjoyed the beautiful natural scenery in Guizhou, but also gained a better and depth understanding about the culture of Miao nationality. All of these are the unique charms of Guizhou, which we will never forget.

5 Days Guizhou Miao & Dong Minority Essence Tour

Itinerary: Guiyang / Kaili / Rongjiang / Congjiang / Zhaoxing / Congjiang
Highlights: Langde Miao Village, Biasha Miao Village, Zhaoxing Dong Village, Huanggang Dong Village

Are you interested in traveling to Guizhou with me? Browse our best Guizhou Tour Packages, or just share your travel preferences, and I'll use my experience and knowledge to provide you with an unforgettable customized Guizhou trip.

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Hi, I'm Phoebe. Are you interested in my exploration in Guizhou? Feel free to contact me and I will be glad to tell you more travel stories about the places I have visited. Or, if you want to customize a tour on your own, I'm always ready to help at any time. With my passion and knowledge, I promise to make the tour memorable and meaningful for you.

Phoebe

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