TanSuo Cultural Travel Explore Ethnic Minority Culture in the Hidden Villages of Guizhou Province Our epic adventure tour places you right at a region in China so remote that its natural beauty has remained virtually untouched We’ll venture deep into the countryside and encounter people whose ancient folk customs date back over hundreds of years. Unlike other ethnic minority tours in China, we’ll be avoiding the villages or towns that have been developed for tourism. Instead, with the help of our expert guide, we’ll go into remote rural areas in order to engage with authentic ethnic minority villages and hear about daily life first-hand from the village elders. During this tour, we will have the chance to engage with communities from the Dong, Miao, Sui, Gejia, and Yao people. We’ll also have the unique opportunity to visit an ancient village where people from the Han ethnic majority continue to practice customs and wear traditional dress that dates back to the Ming Dynasty! On this unforgettable tour, you’ll get to witness folk performances, marvel at ancient styles of opera, relax at one of the Yao peoples’ medicinal spas, learn how rice wine is traditionally made, craft paper from mulberry tree bark, and make tea the old-fashioned way at a green tea plantation. You will have the opportunity to try on traditional outfits, learn folk dances, and even receive a singing lesson from one of the Dong peoples’ prestigious Kam Grand Choirs. 2 TanSuo Cultural Travel During the tour we will: 1. Immerse ourselves in the culture and lifestyle of the Dong and Miao ethnic minorities; 2. Study traditional architecture in a plethora of Dong and Miao villages; 3. Witness first-hand the delicate traditional dress and adornments of the Dong and Miao people; 4. Listen to the beautiful songs and watch the graceful performances that are associated with the traditional culture and customs of the Dong Dong Village and Miao minorities; 5. Enjoy the stunning mountainous landscape of Tour in 2021: Tour in 2022: Guizhou province; 20th of Aug - 2nd of Sep 15th of Apr - 28th of Apr 6. Sample the signature dishes of the 5th of Nov - 18th of Nov 4th of Nov - 17th of Nov delicious local cuisine. Participants Max: 8 Duration: 14 days and 13 nights 3 TanSuo Cultural Travel The Miao ethnic group The history of the Miao people is shrouded in mystery, but modern research suggests that they may have been among the earliest settlers in China. Researchers have found that many Chinese words related to rice farming were borrowed from the Miao language, which indicates that the Miao were some of the first rice cultivators in the country and may have done so over 5,000 years ago! This, along with DNA evidence, connects the Miao to the ancient Daxi people, whose history dates back approximately 5,300 to 6,000 years. The Daxi have long been credited as the first cultivators of rice in the Far East, and it appears that the Miao may Miao girls are dancing have been among them. The Miao prefer to live in mountainous areas and have developed a special their mastery of silversmithing, plants look different to how they type of dwelling to this end, known as a embroidery, and batik. The Miao appear in real life. Their creativity is diaojiaolou. The front of the house is women hand weave and dye cloth, then legendary and their traditional dress, supported by pillars, whilst the rear is sew and embroider it by hand to make resplendent with colour, is the suspended on wooden stilts to keep it all of their clothes. The patterns highlight of any traditional Miao level with the mountainside. This incorporate themes based partly on the festival. Discover more about the Miao makes it look as though the building is natural world and partly on the artists’ Ethnic Group. hanging off of the mountain! imagination, which is why dragons and The Miao are adept at carpentry and phoenixes often feature in Miao wickerwork, but are best known for craftwork and why certain animals and 4 TanSuo Cultural Travel Miao Ethnic Normally there are five or six bamboo pipes that are each of a different pitch. Performance Air is blown into the hardwood pipe to create sound. They vary in size from Performances in Miao villages will small, handheld ones to ones that are always be set to music and, when it several metres in length. comes to the Miao people, the lusheng[1] is the instrument of choice, [2] Suona: A Chinese wind instrument. although other instruments like the It is made up of a horn with a double suona[2] and the copper drum are also reed that makes a distinctively loud popular. During many festivals, the and high-pitched sound. It comes in lusheng dance will be the focal several sizes and the size of the horn attraction. It is a traditional dance affects the sound it makes. It is used performed by the Miao people in throughout China in ritual music and southeast Guizhou. folk music. This style of dance can be divided into two types: lined dance and stepping dance. In the lined dance, the performers will hold their lusheng, stand in a line and dance while turning around, with the performer playing the largest lusheng as their axis. In the stepping dance, two performers will play lusheng of the same size and act as the leaders of the dance. The other performers will circle around them and follow their movements. Read more about Miao Performance. A Miao man is playing lusheng [1] Lusheng: A wind instrument made of multiple bamboo pipes, each fitted with a free reed, that are all in turn fitted into a large, hardwood pipe. 5 TanSuo Cultural Travel The Dong ethnic group The Dong ethnic group are renowned for their musical ability and their skill as carpenters. From the Kam Grand Choirs to the looming Drum Towers, Dong villages are a place of harmony and wonder. The Dong people boast a population of nearly 3 million in China and the vast majority of them are concentrated in eastern Guizhou province, western Hunan province, and northern Guangxi. The Dong people’s talent and penchant for music evolved from their habit of singing folk songs while they were working or farming. Many of these songs are centred on enchanting folk tales that were based around topics Dong girls related to daily life, mainly about the pursuit of true love. The beauty of their music is matched only by the intricacy Unfortunately this idyllic situation “performances” that are not staged for of their architecture, manifested in appears to be waning. More and more tourists. But who knows how long this their characteristic Drum Towers and young people from the Dong opportunity will last? Discover more Wind-Rain Bridges. community are being drawn to cities in about the Dong Ethnic Group. Nowadays most Dong people still the hopes of embracing modernity and follow a traditional way of life in their achieving a better quality of life. The hometowns. To this day you can still arts of batik, embroidery, silverwork, see their magnificent architecture, and even singing are gradually being their traditional style of dress, and lost. Nowadays, in some Dong villages, their vibrant local festivals. you can still enjoy some authentic 6 TanSuo Cultural Travel Dong Ethnic Performance From dusk till dawn, the villages of the Dong people are saturated with the harmonious sound of singing. This ethnic group has become famous throughout China for polyphonic folk songs known as “Dage” or Grand Songs. While some of these folk songs are accompanied by the pipa[1], most are sung without any musical accompaniment. The Dong ethnic minority have no written language, so they use folk songs to narrate their daily life, express their feelings, and keep a record of their history. All of Dong culture is preserved in these magnificent folk songs. The more songs a Dong person knows, the better Dong girls are singing folk songs educated they are considered to be. Singing is so important to the Dong was made a World Class Intangible other soothing natural sounds. Read people that supposedly, in the past, if a Cultural Heritage by UNESCO. more about Dong Performance. man couldn’t sing then he would A Kam Grand Choir is a polyphonic struggle to find a wife! choir that sings without the help of a [1] Pipa: A four-stringed plucking The most talented singers in any Dong conductor or any accompanying instrument that has a pear-shaped village make up what are called Kam orchestra. Their songs are designed to wooden body and anywhere from 12 to Grand Choirs. The Kam Grand Choir imitate the natural world, such as the 26 frets. It is sometimes referred to as tradition is thought to date back all the chirping of insects, the gurgling of the Chinese lute. way to the Warring States Period streams, the whistling of the wind and (475BC-221 B.C.), with a history of over 2,500 years behind it. In 2009, it 7 TanSuo Cultural Travel Diaojiaolou Diaojiaolou is a kind of dwelling popular among several of the ethnic minority communities throughout southern China. The word “diaojiao” (吊脚) in Chinese means “hanging feet” and “lou” (楼) means “building”, so diaojiaolou literally means “hanging feet building”. They are so named because of their unusual appearance. The history of the diaojiaolou stretches back over 500 years and they are widespread throughout Yunnan, Guangxi, Hunan, Guizhou, Hubei, and Sichuan province, but differ in appearance depending on the ethnic group who built them.