More Dong Villages and Bia Sha Black Miao, China
Yin Tan Dong Village was entirely different because of its Drum Towers. The Dong trace their origins back to about the 3rd century BC and speak a Thai language as part of the Sino-Tibetan Thai ethnic-linguistic group. This village was encircled by 100-year old trees and typical Dong houses on stilts.
Dong Drum Towers are an important part and symbol of each village with at least one drum tower in every Dong village and some with many towers. Meetings and celebrations are held in front of these towers and the people gather there to dance and make "merry" (drink). Some are extremely elaborate, many stories high, decorated with dragons, phoenixes, flowers and birds. In the past, cowhide-covered drums were hung in the tower and a villager would climb to the top and beat the drum to alert the villagers. It acted as a SOS (or distress signal) and the drumbeats would travel from one village to another.
The Drum Tower is usually located in the center of the village and resembles a pagoda. Could these villages be any more stunning?
In Yin Tan Dong, everyone was dressed in their best. The cutest little girls sang a welcome song to us...View image... and then I reciprocated by teaching my world-famous rendition of "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes." ...View image... This village was a real favorite and lots of fun because of the interaction between the villagers and adorable children.
Still another fascinating place was the Bia Sha Black Miao Village. It is a special and old place where the villagers still keep on with their unique traditions (going back over 2,000 years). The primary difference between them and other Miao was in their head adornments. (More "Hair"...or lack of hair.) Boys in the village had a central small part on their heads like a shuttle-cock, ...View image...carry a knife on their waists and dress like ancient Chinese warriors. ...View image...The women wear head decorations from the Ming and Quing Dynasty.
There were many Chinese tourists in this village, waiting for the Bia Sha to perform a ancient warrior dance, led by the chief's son.
After the dance, one of the elders became extremely friendly towards me! Perhaps, he had been hitting the rice wine or who knows what he was smoking.
Continued driving to Tang An, another Dong Village on top (a long way up) of a rice terrace. We were supposed to overnight at a "Wooden house" in this village, but almost all the villagers had gone to Kaili for the festival leaving us without a room for the night. Andy decided to drive back down (a long way down) the mountain back through Zhaoxing (Zhao Xing) and found us a room in Lu-Lu's Guesthouse. Fine with us. Driving through Zhaoxing on the way to the Wooden house, the village looked like a perfect place to overnight and we weren't disappointed...
Holiday sailings now discounted over 70%. Aren't you glad you waited to book?
