Ping'an Zhuang Village

Ping'an Zhuang Village is reputed as 'the Garden of Eden in China' by tourists from all over the world. The village has about 80 Zhuang ethnic households. For more than 600 years, they have lived on the terraced rice fields from one generation to generation.

Zhuang ethnic group is one of the ancient Chinese minorities. The people of Zhuang who live in Ping'an still keep their ethnic features in their costumes. Women usually wear laced jupes and coifed their heads with kerchiefs or towels. The men now seldom wear their traditional garments. They used to wear the short gowns of coarse cloth but now they only wear them in the festivals or great events. They are now influenced a lot by the outside world. Most they do business related to tourism when they take time off from their farm work. 

The Ping'an villagers make rice as their staple food. They cook the rice in a very special way. They put the rice, peanuts, beans or other materials into the bamboo tubes and bake the tubes on the fire. The locals call it zhutongfan (baked bamboo rice). This food is very delicious and the villagers often enjoy the food with their guests. Now the village has many restaurants and many of them also offer this food. In Ping'an Village, all the families produce a sweet 'beverage'. The beverage is made by an aboriginal way - put the fermented sticky rice into a cask, then the cask is put down on a caldron, and cooked for long time, the fermented sticky rice is steamed until the beverage flow out. Once visit their homes, the tourists may be served a bowl of this kind of beverage.

In Ping'an Village, most of the buildings have a history of more than 100 years. These legged wooden buildings were all built along the hillsides and usually have two or three levels. They are supported by the wooden bases and stakes, suspending over the ground. The domestic animals live in the first level and the villagers live in the upper levers. This way of construction is good for health, and to perform to keep from attacking from the beasts.

Embraced by mountains which grow trees and bamboos, the surroundings of the Ping'an Village are tranquil and elegant with a pleasant climate all the year round. The villagers have developed many terraced fields by their wooden houses. They look very breathtaking from afar. This is considered as the highlight of the village. They are two most famous terraced landscapes in the village. One is the Nine Dragons and Five Tigers, another one is the Seven Stars with the Moon. But enjoy these stunning views tourists must ascend a little from the village.

Travel Tips:

1. To visit Ping'an Village, you can take the buses from Guilin to Longsheng County at Guilin Bus (Coach) Station. Upon reaching the county or at an intersection (not reach the county) in Hepingxiang, you must transfer to take the minibus to twist all the sky way to reach the village. Normally, 3hrs drive can reach there.

2. Rooms and boards are available in the village since the villagers run some hotels or let out their rooms (some in their traditional houses) by the day.

Most hotels or inns have TV and air-conditioning, even the internet.

3. The price of the food/drinks in the village is as high as the mountains because it is carried from Guilin to Hepingxiang and then carried by the villagers or horses from the foot of the mountain.

4. If you get there, you'd better find a local travel company to arrange your tour. The price seem to be more cheaper than on your own way because all the travel companies in Guilin can get discounts from the entrance tickets, food, drinks, hotels and transport.