Hi, everyone! This week, let me take you to Zhaoxing Dong Village, the last traditional village I visitted when I was in Guizhou, China.
If you follow my blog, we’ve explored Wujiang Village and Miao Village. Both villages are developed and lively, with beautiful, Instagrammable views.
In Zhaoxing Dong Village, you’ll feel a different atmosphere—a more authentic, village vibe. A quiet life and relaxing walks in the park, just being present…
Not many group tours visit this village because it’s far (around 2-3 hours from Miao Village) and there’s not much to do. However, I feel this village has its charm ✨📸🤳
I don’t have many things to say about Zhaoxing Dong Village, so you will see many photos in this blog post 😊
Similar to Miao Village, big tourist buses couldn’t enter the village. So, after lunch, we went to Yunge Resort Hotel, our homestay, to put our bags, then headed for a walking tour.
Alright, so the name was “resort hotel” but in reality, it was a homestay. My homestay in this village had a similar design to the one in Miao Village, with wooden furniture and a tea set for guests in the lobby.
However, the design of the lobby was more modern, with hotel vibe. My room in this homestay was also bigger than the one in the Miao Village.
The best part? My bed was waaay bigger than the normal single bed! Yaaaay~
Also read: “Meow-ing with the Miao Tribe in Miao Village, Guizhou”
Also read: “Guizhou Trip: Wujiang Village and Wujiang Zhailongwan Hotel”
Zhaoxing Dong Village: Traditional Wooden Architecture and Wind and Rain Bridges
While Miao Village was bustling with tourists, Zhaoxing Dong Village was much quieter, letting you be immersed in its nature and traditional wooden architecture.
There were many wooden bridges in this village, which were called “wind and rain bridges” because they provide shelters, protecting people from wind, rain, and sun!
These bridges, whether between the locals’ wooden houses or in the garden, always come with pavilions and benches.
Honestly, it was nice to see the locals relaxing on the bridges instead of tourists taking selfies or photoshoots… I could capture the daily life of the locals with my camera!
After the walking tour, I explored the main road for a while and bought two boxes of high-quality green tea. The lady boss had a cute white kitten and was nice to me, she gave me some bonuses, hehe…
Next, let me take you to a hidden garden route in Zhaoxing Dong Village! I stumbled upon this beautiful garden pathway after buying some tea.
The warm afternoon sun, combined with the beautiful view and chilled green tea in my hand, made the moment perfect.
As someone who doesn’t like vlogging and the chaos of setting up a selfie stick, you’ll never find my face in my travel videos, hehe 😁😁😁
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The Beautiful Garden Path in Zhaoxing Dong Village, Guizhou
So, that day, I still had more than an hour until the group tour gathered at a specific restaurant for dinner and started to get bored.
What should I do next? Sit somewhere and browse the internet?
Luckily, I found a lush garden with a river behind it. I walked closer and saw a nice pathway between the greens. Okay, let’s check it out!
What waited for me next was amazing. It was a postcard-perfect view of win and rain bridges, water mills, traditional wooden buildings, river, and afternoon sun.
At one moment, I wished I had walked on this pathway with someone special, because it was very romantic. It would be something like this:
CLARA15
I kept walking until the end of the garden path. It led me to a big wind and rain bridge, with a spacious field and a beautiful view:
By the way, there were around 1,000 families living in Zhaoxing Dong Village. Besides its wooden architecture, this village was also known for its drum towers.
There were 5 drum towers, which symbolise 5 good manners in Chinese tradition: wisdom, righteousness, courtesy, benevolence, and trust.
Unfortunately, although I’m a Chinese descendant, I didn’t understand Chinese language. So, I knew nothing when my tour guide explained about this village during the walking tour.
I only know about the drum towers when I’m writing this blog post! 🥹🥹🥹 If I knew about the drum towers, I would walk to the other side of the flower field!!!
Okay, still around 45 minutes to go before dinner and I hadn’t figured out where the restaurant was. I kept checking out nearby areas to see if there were more hidden, attractive spots in the village.
Since I didn’t enjoy the food during lunch, I figured out I wouldn’t enjoy the dinner either. That’s why I didn’t bother much finding the restaurant, haha… Chinese food in China wasn’t my favourite!
Then, I found a very interesting place: Dong Culture Exhibition Centre!
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Dong Culture Exhibition Centre in Zhaoxing Dong Village, Guizhou
At first, I didn’t want to enter this place because it looked like a restaurant or a cultural performance. But then I walked closer and found out it was a cultural exhibition center!
This is what happened when you travel to China without knowing how to speak and read Chinese 😅
It was very beautiful and cultural, plus Instagrammable! If you like taking photos, you must visit the Dong Culture Exhibition Center in Zhaoxing Dong Village!
At the Dong Culture Exhibition Center, you could buy silver jewelry, some souvenirs, hang out at a cafe, read about the Dong tribe culture, see a mock-up blue dye factory, etc…
Too bad I had to rush to explore this place because I hadn’t figured out where the restaurant for dinner was. Luckily, I met a few of my group tour members there, so we went to the restaurant together.
The restaurant turned out to be nearby! Afterwards, we had a night walking tour and enjoyed the beautiful night view of Zhaoxing Dong Village.
Alright friends, I hope you enjoyed our short trip exploring Zhaoxing Dong Village in Guizhou, China! Pheww, it takes many hours for me to resize the photos and write this blog post.
But it’s worth it, this blog post is also for my own travel diary 🥰🥰🥰
Aaand, the best thing? Surprise, surprise! Malaysia and China has extended the free tourist visa travel for Malaysians for 5 more years! Hooraaay, no long queue to apply for a tourist visa!!! 🎉🎉🎉
Thank you for reading! May this month bring you joy, love and success 💖💖💖
CLARA15
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