About Guizhou
Situated in the southwest of China, Guizhou Province covers an area of 176,000 sq km, and a population of 36.00 million (2018), of which the 17 ethnic minorities that have lived in Guizhou for generations make up 39%.
Guizhou boasts picturesque landscapes, pleasant climate and varied and rich tourism resources; hence it enjoys a reputation of being the “tourism treasure house of China, and the natural park in the world”. Guizhou is one of the most typical areas with the karst landform in the world, and its karst terrains account for 73 % of its total area. Its special geological form and special geographical conditions have given birth to the karst features integrating mountains, rivers, waterfalls, cave, lakes and forests. Over the past many years, all the people of different ethnic groups in Guizhou have well preserved the time-honored original ecological culture, unsophisticated and strong customs and lifestyle, unusual architectural structures, costumes, food, wedding customs, festivals, celebrations, songs and dances, and sacrificial rites, showing the folk customs and lifestyle in varied colorful splendor. Guizhou is the birthplace of mountain culture represented by Yelang culture and Tubao culture, and one of the birthplaces of the pre-history civilizations of mankind. With all the cultural elements of different periods and regions, it is the Grand View Garden of colorful cultures. Guizhou is a province where the Red Army stayed for the longest time, had the longest battlefront, and left the most historic sites during the Long March over 80 years ago, hence Guizhou occupies an irreplaceable position for initiating “red tourism”. With a temperate climate, Guizhou is an ideal summer resort as it is neither cold in winters, nor hot in summers and has high forest coverage. During his inspection of Guizhou, Mr. Francesco Frangiallia, Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization, spoke highly of Guizhou: “Guizhou is the land of culture, scenery, ecology, songs, dances and mellow wine.”
At present, Guizhou boasts one world natural heritage, 13 national scenic and historic interest zones, eight national nature reserves, 21 national forest parks, six national geoparks, one national mine park, four national ecological museums, 39 key historic monuments under state protection, two national famous historic and cultural cities, and 40 national intangible cultural heritages that fall into 31 types. In addition, Guizhou has established a diverse-product system integrating sightseeing, holiday, rural, cultural, red, ecological and special tours to meet various demands of domestic and oversea tourists. The construction of tourism infrastructural facilities with communication as the focal point has mad breakthrough progress, and an expressway network that links with all the main scenic spots in Guizhou Province and all other tourist cities in China has been set up. Scheduled flights go regularly from Guiyang Longdongbao International Airport to Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea, Japan, Australia, Russia, France, Italy and other countries in the world, as well as to over 80 cities in mainland China; and six branch airports have been constructed. Now Guizhou Province has more than 500 star-rated hotels, over 200 international and domestic travel services, and over 10,000 tourism-related automobiles. In a world, the main elements of tourism in Guizhou, including “transportation, sightseeing, accommodation, food, shopping and recreation”, have been basically perfected, and the comprehensive reception abilities have been improved remarkably.
A List of Main Tourist Destinations in Guizhou
Guiyang City
Zunyi City
Anshun City
Aiannan Buyei & Miao Autonomous Prefecture
Qiandongnan Miao & Dong Autonomous Prefecture
Tongren Prefecture
Bijie Prefecture
Liupanshui City
Qianxinan Buyei & Miao Autonomous Prefecture