Guizhou (贵州) · 15 places · 6 cities
15 places in Guizhou, grouped by city. Under each one are two figures from the survey: how much daily life still goes on there, out of 100, and how far it has been turned over to visitors, out of 6.
Most common here: Old town (10), Walled city (2), Old quarter of a city (2). See all provinces, or the background on old towns.
3 places
Anshun (安顺)
| Place | Kind | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| Jiuzhou Ancient Town (Anshun) (旧州古镇(安顺))A Ming military-colony town. The descendants of the garrison still wear the Ming-style dress and perform dixi, the masked martial opera, which is listed as national heritage.Lived-in 76/100 · Commercialised 2/6 · rarely visited from abroad · some effort to reach | Old town | Lived-in, quiet |
| Shitouzhai Bouyei Village (镇宁石头寨)A Buyi village built entirely of stone: walls, roofs, paths, houses. Buyi batik is made here and is listed as national heritage.Lived-in 76/100 · Commercialised 1/6 · rarely visited from abroad · some effort to reach | Old town | Lived-in, quiet |
| Tianlong Tunbao (天龙屯堡)A stone fortress town, still occupied by garrison descendants. The masked opera is performed by villagers, and the stone building technique is unchanged.Lived-in 72/100 · Commercialised 3/6 · rarely visited from abroad · some effort to reach | Old town | Lived-in, quiet |
3 places
Qiandongnan (黔东南)
| Place | Kind | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| Langde Upper Miao Village (郎德上寨)About a hundred Miao households. The bronze-drum ground is where the village actually gathers, and the dancing on it is done by residents rather than performers.Lived-in 80/100 · Commercialised 2/6 · rarely visited from abroad · some effort to reach | Old town | Lived-in, quiet |
| Basha Miao Village (从江岜沙苗寨)About 500 Miao households. The village holds a licensed exemption to keep hunting guns, the only one in China, and men still shave their heads with a sickle. Trees are treated as ancestors: one is planted at birth and felled at death.Lived-in 76/100 · Commercialised 3/6 · rarely visited from abroad · some effort to reach | Old town | Lived-in, quiet |
| Qiaojie Old Street (黎平翘街)A kilometre of Ming and Qing commercial street, intact and occupied. Dong oil tea and pickled fish; the Dong choral tradition is strong here.Lived-in 74/100 · Commercialised 2/6 · rarely visited from abroad · some effort to reach | Historic street | Lived-in, quiet |
3 places
Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture (黔东南苗族侗族自治州)
| Place | Kind | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| Zhenyuan Ancient City (镇远古城)A 2,200-year-old city where the Wuyang River curves in an S-shape like a Taiji symbol, cliff-side Qinglong Cave temples cling to the rock, and old women still wash clothes by the river at dawn, a river city still lived in, without the crowds of Fenghuang.Lived-in 82/100 · Commercialised 3/6 · little known abroad · easy to reach | Walled city | Lived-in, quiet |
| Zhaoxing Dong Village (肇兴侗寨)Listed as China’s largest Dong ethnic village, five drum towers, five wind-and-rain bridges, polyphonic Dong Grand Choirs (UNESCO intangible heritage) sung by villagers around the fire at night, and a Dong New Year feast where the whole village kills pigs and makes rice cakes. This is living Dong culture, not a performance.Lived-in 80/100 · Commercialised 3/6 · little known abroad · some effort to reach | Old town | Lived-in, quiet |
| Xijiang Thousand-Household Miao Village (西江千户苗寨)Described as China’s largest Miao village: 1,400 stilt houses down one mountainside, and thousands of lanterns at night that read as a single lit surface. The main street is heavily touristed, and Miao families still live in the upper lanes.Lived-in 72/100 · Commercialised 5/6 · known abroad · some effort to reach | Old town | Lived-in, busy |
3 places
Zunyi (遵义)
| Place | Kind | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| Bing’an Ancient Town (丙安古镇)A town suspended on sixty-degree cliffs above the Chishui river, its wooden stilt houses held up on logs. One stone street of 500 m, worn smooth over a century, with people still chopping wood by their doors.Lived-in 78/100 · Commercialised 2/6 · rarely visited from abroad · some effort to reach | Old town | Lived-in, quiet |
| Zunyi Old City (遵义老城)A lived-in old town that is also where the Party held its 1935 conference. Mutton rice noodles are the local breakfast.Lived-in 74/100 · Commercialised 2/6 · little known abroad · easy to reach | Old quarter of a city | Lived-in, quiet |
| Tucheng Ancient Town (赤水土城古镇)A salt-transport wharf on the Chishui river, still lived in. Boatmen’s work songs survive as a tradition here.Lived-in 74/100 · Commercialised 2/6 · rarely visited from abroad · some effort to reach | Old town | Lived-in, quiet |
2 places
Guiyang (贵阳)
| Place | Kind | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| Qingyan Ancient Town (青岩古镇)A Ming garrison town in Guizhou where Han, Miao and Bouyei have lived together for 600 years, stone lanes running between old walls. The main street is touristed; the back lanes and morning markets are not.Lived-in 74/100 · Commercialised 4/6 · known abroad · easy to reach | Old town | Lived-in, busy |
| Wenchangge-Diantaijie Neighborhood (贵阳文昌阁-电台街老社区)The old core of Guiyang and a working neighbourhood. Changwang noodles, silk-doll wraps and potato cakes are what people eat here.Lived-in 74/100 · Commercialised 2/6 · little known abroad · very easy to reach | Old quarter of a city | Lived-in, quiet |
1 place
Bijie (毕节)
| Place | Kind | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| Zhijin Pingyuan Ancient City (织金平远古城)More than seventy temples, clan halls and guild halls inside one old town, still lived in. Ding Baozhen, whose name is on the chicken dish, came from here.Lived-in 76/100 · Commercialised 2/6 · rarely visited from abroad · some effort to reach | Walled city | Lived-in, quiet |
Which of These Is Still a Town
The two scores narrow the list, and the last step is local: which lanes are worth the walk, which day of the week the place is itself, and where to stay inside the walls. Tell our local team the provinces you will be in and they will say which of these hold up.