Baimian Yao Village

Surround by verdant woods, the village is situated in Longsheng Hot Spring National Park, 6 km from Longsheng hot spring. With a total area of 35000 square kilometers and construction area of 3000 square kilometers, the village was now inhabited by 35 households of Red Yao people.

Although the history of the village can be traced back to the Song dynasty, the Yao people's drinking and eating culture, their customs and habits, and their costume ornaments all have been perfectly preserved. Once entering this Yao village, one will feel as if he was in a Yao village a thousand years ago.

Yinshui Dong Village

Only two kilometres west of Longsheng Town you will come to the Yinshui Dong Village. It is named after the waterfall that runs down from the mountaintop resembling a long silver chain.

It is said that the village was founded during the Tang-Song dynasties and gained fame due to the hard work of generations of the Dong people. In 1737 during the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing dynasty, Wu Jinyin, the 82nd chief of Yinshui Dong Village, led the Dong people to rise in rebellion with the support of the Zhuang, Miao and Yao peoples against the Qing government. The Qing government hastily sent troops from neighboring provinces to put down the rebellion. After the failure of this rebellion, the village moved to another place and the original village was abandoned. In recent years, with the development of local tourism, Dong people were invited to return their home village with the 101st village chief of the Wu clan.In this village, you can see an old drum-tower and the famous Wind and Rain Bridge, which is a unique 76 metre long complex consisting of five pavillions connected by corridors. The Ma Pang Drum tower 25 kilometres north of Longsheng town is the largest of its kind: It is a 12 metre high wooden construction: a nine-story wooden roof held up by wooden pillars. Such towers (resembling Chinese pagodas) were set up as meeting points in almost every Dong village.

Jinzhu Zhuang Village

20 miles from the county lies the Jinzhu Zhuang Village. Stepping into the Longji Scenic Spot, it is the first Zhuang Village that you will come across. Numerous wooden stilt houses built at the foot of the hill overlap each other - This is the famous splendid sight of "ladder houses".

UNESCO officials, impressed by the wide and dry wooden houses as well as the clean and tiny village, spoke in glowing terms and called it the "the Model of Zhuang Villages". You can see plain stone gates and stone wells here, as well as King Moyi hanging on the old tree, the hero in Zhuang folk tales who guards the village like a patron.

Do not forget the marvelous Zhuang songs and dances. The Grass Skirt Dance, for example, was performed to celebrate a girl becoming an adult in remote antiquity. The name must come from dancers wearing masks and grass skirts when they give their performance. The Carrying Pole Dance, the samba of China, celebrates the harvest. Dancers move according to the lively rhythms made by striking bamboo carrying poles. And, the Calabash Dance is to impart the wine making skills.

Typical local snacks of Jinzhu include Zhutong Zhengji (steamed chicken made in the thick bamboo tubes) and Zhutong Nuofan (glutinous rice made in the thick bamboo tubes), all of which are put in table ware made of bamboo, and full of rich local flavor.

(Photo source: baidu.com)