One Week Self Travel Itinerary for Witnessing the Life of Minorities in Guizhou and Guangxi Province

Guizhou is a place stuck between Sichuan and Gaungxi Province, where minorities preserve their customs and traditional ways of life amidst a backdrop of waterfalls, rhododendrons and karst mountains.

Day 1 - travel from Shenzhen to Zhenyuan, Guizhou

Zhenyuann is a small town in the north- east of Guizhou approximately 50km-s from Guiyang. It is famous of it’s miao and other minorities, where old and new is mixed in every way.

First you need to take the train to Kaili; you can either take the bullet train (leaves from Shenzhen North Station and takes about 6 hours - cca 100USD) or a regular train (Shenzhen Main train station, takes about 22 hours - cca 50USD). I prefer traveling with “normal” train to experience the local vibe but if your time is limited.

Once you arrived to Kaili, take the local train from the same station to Zhenyang (90 minutes). If you arrive with bullet train however, make sure you make your way to the “normal” train station in Kaili

Day 2 - Zhenyuan, Guizhou Province

Zhenyuan Ancient town was a land and water transportation place in the ancient times. It’s cut through the Wuyang River and it has a reputation as “Oreintal Venice”.

The place is full of with ancient houses, pavilions, including caves and temples with their unique architecture.

Walk around the old town, hike up the mountain to have a awesome view on the river and town and try local food.

Accommodation in Zhenyuan.

Day 3 travel to Basha Village, Guizhou

Have a morning stroll in Zhenyuan village with a late breakfast (morning tea) and then travel to Basha Village, this remote small village up in the mountains in the border of Guizhou and Guangxi Province where the last tribe with gunmen lives.

Basha is so isolated -still- that majority of the villagers have never left the village or had been to a larger city/town.

It is the most ancient Miao village in China with all it’s characteristics.

The easiest way to travel fro Zhenyuan is to hire a car with a local - you can do that pretty much every corner - takes 4 hours drive and about 130 USD - dependant on your negotiation skills.

The other option to get up to the village is a little bit more complicated and takes more time:

First you need to take the train back to Kaili from Zhenyuan (1.30 h - 3 USD), then take the bus from the local bust station to Leishan (1 hour - 1.5 USD, change for the bus towards Rongjiang (3-4 hours - 5 USD) and then take the bus from Rongjiang to Congjiang (2 hours - 3 USD). You will need to take a local “taxi” to get uptown Basha village from Congjiang (30 minutes, about 5 USD). This travel is doable in one day, hence early start is required!

Once you arrived to Basha village, walk up to the main square, the 3 accommodation options are located there. People usually don’t speak English, cash and WeChat payment is more acceptable than card.

Food is rather simple in the village but the remoteness balances everything

Day 4 - Explore Basha Village

Walk around the village, make sure you name your way to the rice fields, if you speak a little Mandarin, chat up with locals and try the “basha burger”, which is technically barbecued pork meat stuck between rice.

Every morning there is a gun firing ceremony on the main square.

Accommodation in Basha Village

Day 5 - Travel to Chengyang Village, Guangxi Province

Take an early morning stroll in Basha Village, then check out from your hotel and head to Chengyang Village, Guangxi Province.

Take the bus (30 minutes- 1 USD, or “taxi” 5 USD). Basha village to Conjiang where you can take the bus to Sanjang (2-3 hours - 7 USD).

Change for the bus heading towards Linxi (林溪) in Sanjang and get off at the stop of Chengyang Wind & Rain Scenic Area ( 30 minutes - 1 USD)

Accommodation in Chengyang Village. I stayed at Dong Village Hotel, a wooden 4-story house by Linxi River, just standing by another Wind and Rain Bride north of the world famous Chengyang Wind & Rain Bridge.

Day 6 - Explore Chengyang Village

Discover Chengyang villages, the wind and rain bridges that connect them

Have a memorable tea ceremony in one of the small local shops, learn how tea is made from them or just enjoy the culture, village life, history that connects local people.

Accommodation in Chengyang

Day 7 - Return to Shenzhen by train

Take the bus from Chengyang Wind and Rain Scenic area to Sanjiang West Bus station. from there you can take the bus (1 USD) to go to Sanjiang South Railway station from where the bullets trains towards Shenzhen / Guangzhou or Guillin leave.

The train takes 5 hours to get back to Shenzhen and crosses one of the best sceneries in whole China.

If you have got extra time, you can take a 3-4 day detour to Yangshuo area to trek and hike around the karst peaks.

About me

Hello, my name is Katalin and I have been traveling in China (on and off) for three years now. I mainly focus on border provinces as I am more fascinated by exploring the life of minorities. I can’t stand travel agencies - totally disagree with their principle of keeping the “secret of how to travel” to themselves.

My favourite way of traveling is by public transport, I do it usually with minimal planning and just let the locals “drive” me to the spots.

This site is my experience of how to travel with no agency, by yourself taking local transport to these majestic places in China.

If I am not exploring you can find me hiking somewhere in the mountains / bushes or taking photos. Oops, wait a second that’s exploring too!