China Ethnic Tour From South to West

Embark on a scenic Li River Cruise from Guilin to Yangshuo. Glide past towering karst peaks, rice paddies, and tranquil villages, capturing iconic landscapes seen in Chinese ink paintings. This immersive cruise is one of the most scenic Guilin attractions and offers a peaceful way to admire the region’s natural beauty.

Spend the day in the enchanting countryside of Yangshuo with a family biking adventure, following parts of the renowned "Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains, Riding in the Painting" outdoor sports route. Rent comfortable bicycles suitable for all ages, including child seats or tandem bikes, and discover quaint villages, vibrant farmland, and gurgling streams with floating bamboo rafts. The flat, well-maintained country roads offer a safe and enjoyable biking experience, with stunning karst scenery surrounding you at every turn, and you can even catch a glimpse of the majestic Jiuma Huashan from different angles along the way.

Zhaoxing Dong Village was first built in the third year of Yongxi in the Northern Song Dynasty (986 AD), with a history of more than 1000 years. During the 11th Five Year Plan period, Liping County officially included the development of Zhaoxing Dongzhai Scenic Area in its planning, and began large-scale construction after the 12th Five Year Plan period. It was officially opened to the public in January 2014
Zhaoxing Dong Village is surrounded by mountains on all sides, and the village is built in a central basin. Two small streams converge to form a small river that runs through the village. The houses in the village are stilted buildings in the form of dry railings. They are arranged in rows and are all made of fir. The gable roof is covered with small green tiles, which is simple and practical. Zhaoxing Dong Village is divided into internal surnames and external surnames, with all members being the Lu Dong ethnic group. It is divided into five major Fang ethnic groups and is located in five natural areas, known locally as "Tuan". It is divided into five groups: benevolence group, righteousness group, ritual group, wisdom group, and faith group.

Basha Miao Village (English name: Biasha), also known as the "Last Spearman Tribe", is located in Bingmei Town, Congjiang County, Qiandongnan Prefecture, Guizhou Province. It consists of five natural villages including Dazhai and Zaigexin Village, with a total area of 15 square kilometers and a permanent population of about 2548 people. Miao language is the main language of communication. Located at an altitude of 550 meters at the foot of the Moon Mountain, it belongs to a subtropical humid climate. The village preserves customs such as sickle shaving, wearing firearms (approved by the public security organs), and worshiping ancient trees. The male hair bun "hu stick" is an ancient hairstyle inherited from the Chiyou era. In 1976, the millennium camphor tree was presented as a tribute to Chairman Mao's Memorial Hall and a memorial pavilion was built.
The local traditional festivals include the Lusheng Festival and the Eating Festival, and the "girl making" activity in wedding customs is unique. Basha implements tree burial, planting trees in tombs as monuments, and forest protection regulations stipulate that loggers must be fined "three hundred and twelve". The village strictly prohibits indiscriminate logging and is a national 4A level tourist attraction and a famous historical and cultural village in China. In recent years, measures such as optimizing the format of scenic spots and forming intangible cultural heritage performance teams have been taken to promote the integration of culture and tourism, and villagers have achieved income growth through tourism

Zhanli Dong Village is located in Gaozeng Township, Congjiang County, Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou Province, with a land area of approximately 15.97 square kilometers. The village is located in a valley between mountains at an altitude of 380 meters, surrounded by lush forests of Cangshan. Clear streams flow through the village, and there are more than 150 hanging wooden buildings built along the mountain, including drum towers, wind and rain bridges, and drying racks with Dong ethnic characteristics.
Since the Qing Dynasty, the village has implemented a tradition of population control, which stipulates that each couple should not have more than two children and limits the number of children based on grain production. The annual fertility oath ceremony is held on the first day of the second lunar month and the first day of the eighth lunar month, following the traditional marriage custom of "men not marrying, women not marrying". As of 2012, the gender ratio of the entire village population has maintained a long-term balance.

Xiaohuang Dong Village is located on the top of Houpo Mountain in Gaozeng Township, Congjiang County, Guizhou Province. It is about 15 kilometers away from Gaozeng Township and more than 20 kilometers away from the county seat. It consists of three natural villages: Xiaohuang, Gaohuang, and Xinqian. There are currently more than 600 households and 3000 Dong residents. The village is based on the core cultural tradition of the Dong ethnic group's big song ("Ga Xiao Huang"), with more than 20 existing song teams and over a thousand singers, and is known as the "hometown of Dong songs".
In 1986, French musician Louis Dangdelaire invited nine local Dong girls to perform Dong ethnic songs at the Golden Autumn Festival in Paris. Since then, this performance form has appeared on stages such as the CCTV Spring Festival Gala and the World University Games. Hundreds of stilted houses are built along the river in the village, and the villagers continue their traditional hospitality customs. Every evening, dressed in costumes, men, women, and children of the Dong ethnic group gather in front of the drum tower to perform multi part unaccompanied singing. The Dong ethnic group's big song performance team established locally not only performs for tourists in the village, but also participates in cultural exchange activities at home and abroad.

Huanggang Dong Village, also known as Huanggang Village, is a pure Dong ethnic village located in Shuangjiang Town, Liping County, Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou Province. The village was first built in the Song Dynasty and has a history of over 800 years. It preserves a large number of traditional Dong ethnic buildings such as stilted houses, drum towers, and flower bridges. Huanggang Dong Village is the birthplace and inheritance site of the "Male Dong Song" and enjoys the reputation of being the "Hometown of Male Dong Song". Its Dong Song is a polyphonic, unguided, and unaccompanied choral art. The village has a rich variety of folk activities, including unique intangible cultural heritage festivals such as "lifting officials" and "shouting for heaven", and preserves the globally important agricultural cultural heritage of "rice fish duck" compound breeding.
Huanggang Dong Village was founded in the Song Dynasty and has a history of over 800 years. It is a pure Dong village with more than 1800 people. Due to its location in the deep mountains and limited transportation, the village has long maintained its traditional way of life from a hundred years ago. In 2012, Huanggang Village was included in the first batch of the "List of Traditional Chinese Villages".

Tang'an Terraced Fields are located in Tang'an Village, Zhaoxing Town, Liping County, Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou Province. It is one of the most well preserved ecological and cultural landscapes in the Dong ethnic region of China. Terraced fields are characterized by stone embankments, using a unique construction technique of "stone filling and soil filling" to form a layered and stepped distribution, winding and undulating like green waves along the mountain terrain. The landscape is distinct in four seasons: after the spring water storage, the waves shimmer like mirrors, the rice seedlings are lush and lively in summer, the golden rice ears in autumn show a scene of harvest, and the white snow cover in winter presents a sacred beauty. The terraced fields, along with the stilt houses and drum towers of Tang'an Dong Village, constitute the living heritage of Dong farming civilization. In 2011, it became the core area of an ecological museum jointly established by China and Norway
The four season landscape in spring (March May) presents a mirror effect after the terraced fields are filled with water, forming a shimmering silver texture under sunlight. In summer (June August), rice seedlings grow and form green blocks of varying shades, blending with morning mist to create a visual effect similar to ink painting. In autumn (September November), when the rice ears mature, the golden rice fields form a strong contrast with the dark stone ridges, and the harvested rice stubble shows a reddish brown gradient in the sunlight. The terraced landscape presents a sacred beauty in winter (December February).

Huangguoshu Waterfall, also known as Huangguoshu Waterfall. Formerly known as Baishuihe Waterfall, also known as "Huanggeshu" Waterfall or "Huanggeshu" Waterfall, the myth of Huangguoshu Waterfall has been passed down among the people of Guizhou since ancient times. The name Huangguoshu Waterfall comes from the tree that bears the "yellow fruit" in this myth. It is located in Zhenning Buyi and Miao Autonomous County, Anshun City, Guizhou Province, China. It belongs to the water system of Baishui River section at the lower reaches of Kebu River, a tributary of Dabang River, a tributary of Beipan River, a tributary of the Pearl River water system. It is the largest first-class waterfall in Huangguoshu Waterfall Group and one of the world famous waterfalls. Known for its vast water flow. The height of the waterfall is 77.8 meters, of which the main waterfall is 67 meters high; The waterfall is 101 meters wide, with the main waterfall top being 83.3 meters wide. Huangguoshu Waterfall belongs to the erosion fissure type waterfall in karst landforms.
The fame of Huangguoshu Waterfall began with the Ming Dynasty traveler Xu Xiake, and through the travels and dissemination of famous figures throughout history, it has become a well-known scenic spot.

The Tianlong Tunbao Scenic Area is located in Tianlong Town, Pingba District, Anshun City, Guizhou Province, about 60 kilometers away from Guiyang City, 30 kilometers away from Anshun City, and 13 kilometers away from Pingba City. It is a living relic of the Ming Dynasty Tunbao culture and has a long history of 600 years. Its history can be traced back to the early Ming Dynasty's military campaign of "transferring north to conquer south". Descendants of border guards and civilians preserved the Jianghuai architectural style and customs, forming defensive settlements represented by stone houses, watchtowers, and cat windows. Women wear Fengyang Han costumes and three strand headpieces, continuing the characteristics of Ming Dynasty clothing; Di Xi uses plays such as "The Three Kingdoms" and "Yang Family Generals" as carriers, retaining the military Nuo performance form. The Yuan Dynasty was an important post station on the Shunyuan Ancient Post Road. The existing main street runs through the core village, connecting ancient buildings such as gatehouses, Yanwu Hall, Tea Post Station, and Shen Wansan's former residence. The layout of the alleyways still has military defense functions

Dali Old City is located in the west of Yunnan Province, also known as Yeyucheng and Zicheng. The history of the ancient city can be traced back to the Tianbao period of the Tang Dynasty. The Yangju Mie City built by the Nanzhao Wang Ge Luo Feng was its new capital. The ancient city was founded in the 15th year of the Hongwu reign of the Ming Dynasty (1382), covering an area of 3 square kilometers.

Xizhou Ancient Town was once the first ancient capital of Nanzhao Kingdom in the Tang Dynasty, and there are still key courtyards such as Yan Family Courtyard and Dong Family Courtyard. Implement projects such as the protection and renovation of Zhao Mansion and the renovation of Cangyi Library, and build the Jiajie Ji Agricultural Culture and Art Museum and the Jiangzhi Ji Folk Art Museum. In 2020, we received approximately 2 million tourists and developed intangible cultural heritage experience projects such as tie dyeing and clay sculpture, forming an annual output value of over 70 million yuan in the tie dyeing industry chain. Planting organic crops such as rice and rapeseed around the ancient town, creating ecological agricultural product brands such as "Xi Mi" and "Xi You"

Take a 1-hour horse carriage ride to Haishe Wetland Park, enjoying the natural scenery of Erhai Lake and the surrounding countryside.

Erhai Lake is a beautiful plateau freshwater lake, and is one of the four scenic spots in Dali, known as the "Erhai Moon". Erhai Lake is famous for its clear lake water and beautiful mountain scenery, and the occasional passing of white egrets on the surface of the lake adds a vivid natural atmosphere. By taking a cruise ship to Erhai Lake, tourists can enjoy the pastoral scenery on both sides of the river and the beautiful scenery of Cangshan Mountain in the distance. They can also see the Little Putuo Island from afar, the Nanzhao Style Island from afar, and the White Marble Guanyin Statue from a close distance.

The Old Town of the Old Town of Lijiang, located in the ancient city district of Lijiang City, Yunnan Province, is located in Bazi, the Old Town of Lijiang. In a narrow sense, it refers to Dayan Ancient City. The world cultural heritage "the Old Town of Lijiang" includes Dayan Ancient City (including Black Dragon Pond), Shuhe Ancient Buildings, and Baisha Ancient Buildings. The Old Town of Lijiang covers an area of 7.279 square kilometers.
The Old Town of Lijiang was built at the end of the Song Dynasty and the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty. The ancestors of Lijiang Mu family moved their ruling center from Baisha Ancient Town to Shizishan, and began to build a housing city, called "Daye Market". In the Ming Dynasty, the establishment, consolidation and improvement of the chieftain system made the Old Town of Lijiang enter the first brilliant period in its history. In the Qing Dynasty, with the improvement of agricultural productivity and the development of handicrafts, the Old Town of Lijiang gradually developed into a commercial center. Since the Republic of China, there have been more than 1200 businesses in the Old Town of Lijiang. In December 2002, the State Council officially approved the removal of land from the Old Town of Lijiang and the establishment of Lijiang as a city. The Old Town of Lijiang has integrated the essence of Han, Bai, Yi, Tibetan, Naxi and other ethnic groups from the overall layout of the city to engineering and architecture. There is no regular road network and strict city walls in the city. The streets within the ancient city of Dayan are built along the mountains and waters, paved with red breccia. There are attractions such as the Wangu Tower, Mufu, Wufeng Tower, Heilongtan, Wenchang Palace, Fang Guoyu's former residence, Puji Temple, Sifang Street, Kegongfang, and Xueshan Academy. In April 2026, the Old Town of Lijiang was named by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism due to management services and other issues.

The Lijiang Naxi Dongba Cultural Museum was established in 1984, formerly known as the Lijiang County Museum, and is the first county-level museum in Yunnan Province. The museum is located next to Heilongtan Park in Lijiang City, Yunnan Province, covering an area of 7 acres. The building adopts the traditional Naxi layout of "three squares and one screen wall" and "four in five courtyards". There are over 12000 cultural relics in the collection, including 67 national first-class cultural relics and nearly 3000 Naxi Dongba cultural relics. It is an important Dongba cultural relics collection institution. Permanent exhibitions such as the "Naxi Dongba Culture Exhibition" and the collection of Dongba ancient books and documents were included in the Memory of the World Heritage List in 2003

Visit the Potala Palace, the iconic winter residence of the Dalai Lama. This UNESCO World Heritage site houses intricate shrines, palaces, and museum exhibits showcasing Tibetan history. Explore its grand halls and spiritual relics while enjoying panoramic views of Lhasa, making it a highlight of any Tibetan cultural tour.

Discover Jokhang Temple, the spiritual heart of Tibet, dating back to the 7th century. This sacred site blends Indian, Chinese, and Nepalese architecture, adorned with vibrant murals and intricate carvings. Located in Lhasa’s Barkhor area, it serves as a pilgrimage center and offers visitors an intimate look at Tibetan Buddhist rituals and history.

Stroll along Barkhor Street surrounding Jokhang Temple, a vibrant market selling handmade crafts, prayer wheels, and souvenirs. This narrow, historic circuit allows travelers to experience local life, observe pilgrims’ devotion, and enjoy a lively cultural atmosphere—ideal for photography and authentic Tibetan experiences.

Visit Sera Monastery on Lhasa’s outskirts, home to around 600 monks of the Gelugpa sect. Named for the wild roses covering the hill, it is famous for lively monk debates in the afternoons. Witness Tibetan Buddhist education and community life in an engaging, picturesque setting.

Head to Yamdroktso Lake, one of Tibet’s three holy lakes, surrounded by snow-capped mountains. Admire turquoise waters fed by glacial streams, with stunning natural vistas reflecting Tibetan mythology. This sacred site offers serene scenery and unforgettable photographic opportunities.

The "Free Market" in Shigatse usually refers to the open-air traditional market located on Bangjiakong Road in Sangzhuzi District (about 80 meters south of Xueqiang Road and Zhashilunbu Temple), also known as the "Bangjiakong Free Market". It mainly sells Tibetan handicrafts, religious artifacts, thangkas, Tibetan knives, beeswax, copperware, Tibetan incense and other tourism products, supports bargaining, and is often visited by locals and tourists

Founded in the 15th century, Tashilhunpo is Tibet’s largest active monastery. Join pilgrims performing Kora, a meditative circumambulation, around sacred structures. Visitors experience vibrant religious rituals, intricate architecture, and Tibetan Buddhist spirituality at one of the region’s most important religious sites.