Qingman Miao Village

Qingman Miao Village is located in Zhouxi Town, Kaili City, Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou Province, in the middle section of Changlinggang Mountains, serving as a typical "natural barrier". The village is built against hills, with stilted buildings tier upon tier characterized by trapezoidal roofs and staggered eaves, orderly but spectacular. The Qinglang River runs through the village and flows to Danzhai Nangao River. The village is 25 km away from the downtown of Kaili City, and accommodates Kaidan county road and Kaiyang Highway throughout. Its geographic coordinates are E107°88′31″ and N26°45′21″, with the maximum and minimum elevation being 1274.5 m and 860 m respectively. The whole village administers four natural villages and five village groups, with 365 households. The total population is 1618, mainly composed of Miao people and Mulao people, of which the Miao people account for 96%. The village boasts wonderful natural scenery, long-standing historical culture and rich ethnic customs, making it a typical natural museum which organically integrates Miao culture and farming civilization.

Qingman Miao Village was established in the period of Yongle of the Ming Dynasty, with a history of more than 600 years till now. After the ancestors of Miao people migrated here, they created the simple, elegant and unique culture of their own in the process of conquering and transforming the nature. The Miao people in this area are known as short-skirt black Miao. The women wear short skirts and make a bun on head. The strangest is the inverted "S-shape" hairstyle for Miao women, which highly resembles that of the women in the Tang Dynasty.

The area retains a lot of exquisite ethnic arts and crafts, such as spinning, embroidery, dyeing, etc. The “Miao Brocade Technique” is listed into the protection list of national intangible cultural heritage; the exquisite embroidery wins a reputation for Qingman as the "Land of Miao Embroidery". Jiuzhuo, a Japanese friend, once donated to build the Mandong Miao Embroidery House here. Colorful ethnic festivals are frequently seen here, such as Lusheng Gathering in Spring Festival, First Harvest of the Year in July, Climbing Festival, Jiyou Festival, etc. Among them, the Lusheng Gathering in Spring Festival is the grandest one. In the festival, people organize fantastic ethnic activities like playing Lusheng (reed-pipe wind instrument), dance with bronze drum, antiphonal singing of Miao songs, bull fighting, cock fighting, bird fighting, etc. Ethnic dances include Lusheng dance, bronze drum dance, bench dance, etc. The folk musical instruments include Lusheng, bronze drum, suona, yexiao (a vertical bamboo flute),leaf, etc. The oral literature is featured by ancient folk song "Jia", drinking songs, funeral songs, love songs, legends, stories, etc., rich and colorful. Under the influence of folklore, a group of literary and art workers are cultivated, including famous Miao writer Wu Lue.

As to architecture, the building is divided into two main types: "swallowing form" bungalow and stilted building, of which the former accounts for a higher proportion. For diet, there are fish in sour soup, chenopodium album, blood tofu, preserved meat, blood sausage and rice wine and so on.

The historical sites and sceneries in Qingman include Guyingpan Ruins, Caijue Hall, Hongqi Flat, Daotian Spring, Liangfeng Cave, etc.

As one of the first batch named as rural tourism village by Guizhou Province in 1984, Qingman Miao Village now has grown into an important tourist attraction in Eastern Guizhou. It has received numerous visitors home and abroad, and is particularly attractive for tourists from the U.S. and Japan. A lot of celebrities from all walks of life have visited the area for research and guidance or for tour and sightseeing, including Hu Jintao, the former president of PRC, Baudouin Decker, the former head of delegation of the Labor Party in Belgium, famous movie star Li Xuejian, famous singers Jiang Dawei and Guan Mucun, etc.

On the traveling route of Qingman Miao Village, tourists also have an opportunity to appreciate the peasant art exhibition organized by Shiqing Miao people as well as the ruins for Xinguang Lusheng production process, Zhouxi Gannangxiang Lusheng Hall and Shiqiao traditional paper-making technology.