Guizhou Trip Feb06

The group comprised of 18 pax with 10 men and 8 ladies. Out of the total, we had 10 past travelers including 7 from Zhangjiajie to Guilin Apr 2005. The trip diary below was written by Andrew Sia, to whom I am most grateful.

Feb23 Day 1 KLIA to Guiyang via Shenzhen: Made a makan raid on downtown Shenzhen during the long stopover. Had Hong Kong style roast goose (siew ngoh) and nai cha (milk tea) for lunch. In Guiyang, the weather was drizzly and chilly, the streets and buildings gloomy. Walked out in the cold for a typical Guizhou supper noodles with spicy veg. Luckily the hotel was plush and warm. However, some did not know about the heater and suffered. Overnight (ON) Guiyang.
Feb 24 Day 2 Huangguoshu to Xingyi: Hotel forgot the wake up calls and some folks came down late. Visited the premier Guizhou attraction, the Huangguoshu Waterfalls. At the bonsai garden we were introduced to various plants including one so bitter (huang lian) that it forms part of a Chinese proverb - ya zi chi huang lian , you ku shuo bu chu. At a width of 81m and a height of 74m, the waterfalls are reputed to be widest in China and Asia. Walking behind the waterfalls was unique. So was the 30 yuan escalator ride! However, the batik stuff here was among the cheapest I found in Guizhou. Bargain hard though. After lunch we stopped for the first of our many photo stops of glorious yellow fields of rapeseed oil flowers amidst scenic hills. At night, on the way to Xingyi, the bus skidded 90 degrees - we later found out that the rear tyres were almost botak! We had to turn back after hitting a dead end – they don’t give much signposted warnings in China do they? After a long detour, and with a driver now driving painfully slowly, we got to Xingyi late for O/N stop.
Feb 25 Day 3 Maling Gorge & Ten Thousand Peaks Hills: At Xingyi we checked out the Minorities Museum, featuring lots of photos of courtship rituals and a few musical instruments. A rather ingenious use of sticks as signals. Maling Gorge offered lush scenery, stupendous cliffs, wispy waterfalls, strange traventine formations (limestone deposited on plants) and a rather tiring trek back up. After lunch, we moved on to the Ten Thousand Peak Hills Forest, a karst peak scenery similar to Guilin/Yangshuo area – plus lots of yellow rapeseed oil flowers. Unfortunately, after the 30 yuan escalator con-ride yesterday, some of us did not want to pay 50 yuan for the golf carts to see the aerial view. Bad move. Those who did came back half frozen but ecstatic. (Leemin writes - I was one of the 6 lucky ones who opted for the hour-long cart ride which ran parallel to the Park but at a higher elevation. Breathtaking views). O/N at a different hotel in Xingyi.
Feb 26 Day 4 Anshun: Mist obscured everything and the bus became even more claustrophobic. Alhamdullilah we had gone to Maling gorge and 10,000 Peaks yesterday. Today go means koyak. A lorry had overturned and our driver got fined, supposedly by unreasonable cops, for trying to overtake some cars in front of him. Should we compensate him? Luckily the weather clears a bit and we make some impromptu roadside stops at villages and more yellow fields on hill terraces. Our destination is Shi Tou Zai or Stone Village. It’s a mini Flintstone place of Han people: pathways, walls and roofs all made of stone, stone, stone. O/N at Anshun. Dinner was divided btw the haves and have-nots – stewed dog meat.

Long horn Miao from Nanhua / Terraces on Zhaoxing trek

Feb 27 Day 5 Heavenly Dragon Fort Village & Kaili: We visit Tian Tai Shan, a hilltop temple. Temperature check by the Holy Ghost aka Goh Seng Aun. 4 degrees Celcius. There are gingko trees where people tie red ribbons on sticks and stick them onto rocky crevices to pray for good health, including a strong back (any other story to add here? the temple was like a Ming Dynasty fortress with Han troops to control the local minorities yes?)Next, one of our best stops, Tianlong Tunbao or Heavenly Dragon Fort Village. Old preserved stone houses, dainty bridges, canals lined with, you guessed it, stone. Supposedly a place where Ming Dynasty lifestyles are preserved: dried corncobs, buffalo horn combs and wooden masks which look suspiciously Balinese. We were welcomed with tea and then a cultural show (anybody remember the explanations?) And then, the lunch highlight – excellent food and singing waitresses! We responded with our Rasa Sayang. O/N Kaili

One of the Songs of the Singing Waitresses
gui bin wan li dao wo cun
bu ci xin ku wan li xing
mei you na yang zhao dai ni
chang shou shan ge lai huan ying
gui hua sheng zai gui shi yan
gui hua yao deng gui ren lai
gui hua yao deng gui ren dao
gui ren bu dao hua bu kai

Feb 28 Day 6 Shidong & Miao Villages: After a roadside village stop (where we give some Miao ladies a lift) and more beautiful terraced hillsides, we reach Shidong, the center of the Long Miao culture in South-East Guizhou. This town is famous for its silver handicrafts and we picked up some great bargains – jewellery and even wood-framed silver dragons. The old town featured ladies in traditional dress, lots of kids posing for our cameras, quaint wooden homes (let me call this the Big Three - repeated at almost all our village visits), rice noodles drying on racks and the smell of rice wine being cooked everywhere. However, the weather is freezing. Minus 1 Celcius recorded. (Goh, can you confirm?) We were not prepared for winter and some of us scrambled to buy gloves and beanie hats. Lunch: best pork ribs I ever had, cooked in sweet soy sauce and a dash of fragrant huajiao. Next, a boat ride to a village (anybody can translate the name?) with more of the Big Three plus unseen pigs grunting in pens somewhere. The Trip Emcee and Entertainer gets lost. (See, it’s not ALWAYS me that’s late…) O/N Taijiang – dinner of oily Guizhou ham (mmmm, tastes like bacon) and stir-fried bee pupae and bamboo grubs. Beatle is mistaken for a minority tribal and stall-keepers taking pity on him give a half yuan discount for his noodles.
March 1 Day 7 Nanhua Miao Village: With the freezing weather, Boss Yongo decided yesterday to call off the 5 hour trek to Xijiang Thousand Family Village. The “basic guesthouse” with no heating might leave many of us sick. However, the sun is shining and some are disappointed that the trek is cancelled. It seems this trip has a bit too much sitting in buses. However, we were more than compensated. First, we passed by a Han people’s ceremony (what was the name?)praying for children’s wellbeing at trees. Joss sticks, candles and our cameras were ablaze. Then, we decided to stop at Nanhua Miao Village, thanks to Chin Fah who had read that it was one of Guizhou’s best attractions. Thank God, for we struck a Massive Motherlode of silver here - dress accessories and headgear, just like in the tourist posters, at a full-blown Miao ceremony. The clapping bamboo stick dance was just like in Sabah and the shopping for colourful dresses and pouches was great too. This was a Yongo SELF-discovery tour (Yazmi’s copyrighted phrase) at its best. Thirdly, the scenery of terraced, no not hillsides but mountainsides, ablaze with yellow rapeseed flowers was spectacular. At some time we went all Jakun at the sight of snow-capped peaks in the distance. So overall, good thing that we cancelled the trekking! O/N Rongjiang, which appeared dark and soul-less.
March 2 Day 8 Miao Minority Market & Basha Miao Village: After our usual noodle breakfast, we left Rongjiang. A photo stop at a riverside village with boats turned
out to be fortuitous as there is a market nearby. More self-discovery! The 45 minute limit is abandoned by all as the market is too alluring – minorities in traditional costumes come in by boats, ducks and dogs for sale in bags, old style oil lamps, vibrant textiles and probably the perfect souvenir, a hill-tribe baby carrier. We encountered our first large Dong tribe tower at Congjiang and moved on to the Basha Miao Village for a song & dance performance by the local villagers. The
welcome: a salute by old style musket shots! Lots of bamboo instruments, courtship rituals demo, a mock log fight and hair shaving. Then the Golden Dragon bus rolled on – at its languid pace - to Zhaoxing, the biggest Dong village in China. The whole place is built from wood and there’s water flowing everywhere. O/N Zhaoxing Lulu’s guesthouse which smelt of fragrant pinewood. Thank god for pizza and beer at this backpackers minor towns.
March 3 Day 9 Village Trek: A fantastic trek from Zhaoxing up to Tang An village passing spectacular terraces. If Banaue’s mountain rice terraces in Luzon, Philippines is the 8th Wonder of the World this must be the 9th. All the Dong villages had drum towers and rain & wind bridges. And there was the life – water – running throughout. From the spring up at Tang An, thru public pools for washing, thru every terraced field, and again thru the next village pool. The trek took us between two half hours to four hours (me and Yazmi the slow coaches) and we were rewarded with a fantastic lunch of kampong chicken, pulut porridge and rice wine. And oranges at 50 cents a cattie. Some trekked back, others hopped onto a bumpy motorcycle taxi. A cultural show in the evening at Zhaoxing and you cha or oil tea (a bit like Hakka lui cha) for dinner. Then commercial break - picture show of Yongo’s previous trips. O/N Lulu’s g/house.

10,000 Peaks Forest Park Xingyi / Basha gun-toting Miao

March 4 Day 10 Liping & Rongjiang: A last shopping blitz in Zhaoxing and we were off. En route, we stopped for lunch and sightseeing at Liping, famous for its Communist Party history relating to the Long March.. There was an antique street cum shopping mall. Otherwise, it was another day of LOOONG bus rides punctuated by photo stops at picturesque Dong villages. Luckily the conversation is good. Or the naps. Or the snacks being passed around. Scenery? After the Tang An climax, the yellow hill terraces couldn’t seem to measure up. Jelak? Rongjiang seemed decidedly more modern this time compared to 3 days ago. We checked into the local Sheraton or Xi Le Deng Hotel.
March 5 Day 11 Rongjiang Sunday Market: Minority women in traditional costumes and unique hair buns/twirls were selling food, ducklings and orchids. The you tiao in soyabean milk and the tang yuan with meat fillings were something else. Then we embarked on a 90 minute plus Long March to Zaidang Dong Village. Unfortunately the scenery, after Tang An’s glorious terraces, was an anti-climax. As was the lunch of fat pork and pickled fish. However, the antiphonal singing was amazing. The
village is a very poor one and the girls had been waiting for hours since 10am to perform for us. Then O/N again at Rongjiang The gourmet group led by Chin Fah hunted for our hotpot dinner at Leng Guo Yu or Cold Hotpot Fish Restaurant. However the soups (qing tang as well as sour) were a bit too flat. Nightlife? Choose between internet cafes, hairwashing or a massage. Ahem, any “extra” services?
March 6, Day 12 Rongjiang to Sandu: Some hardworking folks woke up early to check out the Rongjiang main market and felt it was better than yesterday’s Sunday thing. We left and drove thru the Sandu & Shui minority areas. Took our definitive group photo amidst yellow flowers. At Dujiangzhen, a bus junction lunch stop, we encountered so many different costumes - women with white headgear or green tops – and lots of horses. We arrived at Sandu town at 4pm, the earliest arrival in this trip. It’s a modern town but the market featured fried bees, fish in shallow plastic tubs and whole dogs hung up on hooks. Kam Thin got hit by a pickpocket.
March 7 Day 13 Back to Guiyang: Its a “short” 230km 4hr drive. To maximise our shopping time in the provincial capital, we had to wake up at 5.30am! Pik Wun left her passport in the hotel but luckily our "Boss" arranged for someone from the hotel to take the local bus and deliver it to the Guiyang hotel. Shopping highlights: mobile harddisks to download photos, DVD’s at RM2 per piece, aPod MP3 players (China’s version of the iPod), induction heaters and the discovery of the day (thanks to a group who did a 7 hour Long March thru town), a little music shop with a fantastic array of cheap classical and jazz CD’s.
March 8 Day 14 Shenzhen: We flew from Guiyang to Shenzhen 1130/1255 before connecting to Shenzhen to KUL 2155/0200. With our long transit stop, we made a shopping and food raid downtown but we got Shanghai-ed or rather Shenzhen-ed. A few of us bought 2GB SD cards at only 250yuan but the “shopkeeper” who took the money supposedly “ran away” and the “real” shopkeeper was “shocked” and asked for payment. Was she for real? Or a well acted con game
Day 15 KLIA: Arrived home at 3.45am.

Maling Gorge / Huangguoshu Waterfalls

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