6 Days Guizhou Fanjingshan Mountain Tour from Guiyang

In 2016, the French documentary “Rendezvous in an unknown land” mirrored the French actor Clovis Cornillac’s journey to the Miao community living in Guizhou province, southwestern China was seen by 5.2 million viewers on the France 2 TV channel, which gets the hidden ethnic villages of Guizhou known by more and more people. Two years later in 2018, the UNESCO announced that Fanjingshan (Mount Fanjing) in Tongren, northeastern Guizhou was listed in the World Heritage Lists for its profound Buddhist culture, biological diversity and epic summit views. This is the tour to take you to explore the diverse Guizhou, which is full of fun.

Highlights:

• Visit Fanjingshan, the World Heritage epic site which was considered to have “outstanding universal value” by UNESCO.
• Venture into the idyllic villages of Miao ethnic group in Kaili of Guizhou, and join local friendly people to sing, dance and enjoy parties.
• Explore Huangguoshu Waterfall which is the largest waterfall in Asia with 77.8 meters high and 101 meters wide.

Detailed Itinerary

Day 1 Guiyang Arrival

Sightseeing and Activities: Guiyang arrival
Accommodation: Guiyang
Meals: none

Nihao, welcome to Guiyang, the Capital of Guizhou Province! Upon arrival, you will be met by local tour guide at the arrival hall of Guiyang Airport and escorted to check in your hotel in Guiyang downtown. The rest of today is on your own to relax. If you want to explore nearby, feel free to get some practical suggestions from your tour guide.

Day 2 Guiyang-Huangguoshu Waterfall-Guiyang

Sightseeing and Activities: Huangguoshu Waterfall,  Water Curtain Cave, Tianxing Bridge Scenic Spot, Heavenly Star Bridge
Accommodation: Guiyang
Meals: breakfast, lunch

After breakfast, drive 128 km (about 2.5 hrs) to Anshun to explore Huangguoshu Waterfall which is the largest waterfall in Asia with 77.8 meters high and 101 meters wide. It is scattered with 18 waterfalls, majestic and picturesque. The main waterfall is the only waterfall than can be viewed from above, below, front, back, left and right in the world. Get into the Water Curtain Cave and you can hear, view and touch the waterfall. Besides, there are several viewing spots for you to have better view of the beautiful waterfalls.

Then, extend to the lower reaches of Huangguoshu Waterfall to explore Tianxing Bridge Scenic Spot, which is featured various grotesque limestone formations, caves, waterfalls, forests and the Heavenly Star Bridge (Tianxingqiao), which is formed by a slag of stone across a gorge.

After the tour, drive back to Guiyang for accommodation.

Day 3 Guiyang-Jiangkou

Sightseeing and Activities: Qingyan Ancient Town
Accommodation: Jiangkou
Meals:breakfast, lunch

Today you will be transferred to Jiangkou County which is coveniently located at the foot area of Fanjingshan. It takes about 4~5 hours to drive from Guiyang to Jiangkou. On route,you will take a visit to Qingyan Ancient Town, one of the four most famous ancient towns in Guizhou Province.

Qingyan Ancient Town was established during Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368 – 1911). It was built completely of stone. You will spend about two hours on the town to admire the ancient-style architectures, old alleys, great temples, etc. There are many shops selling lots of ethnic traditional items and local snacks. It is also interesting to see that there is one Christian church and one Catholic church on the town, living in harmony with local Buddhist temples and Taoist temples.

Accommodate at Jiangkou County.

Day 4 Jiangkou-Fanjingshan-Tongren

Sightseeing and Activities: Fanjingshan Mountain, Red Cloud Golden Summit, Mushroom Stone, Old Golden Summit, Cheng En Temple
Accommodation: Tongren
Meals:breakfast, lunch

Today is a full day exploration of the incredible Fanjingshan. You will take the South Route to assend the mountain. First take park bus from the tourist center to Yu’ao Station where you will take a cable car up to the mountain top area, which will save you a lot of time for you to spend on the highlighting area.

What to see at Fanjingshan

Located in Tongren, Guizhou province (southwest China), Fanjingshan is the highest peak of Wuling Mountains, 2,570m (8,430ft) above sea level. Besides standing out as a sacred Maitreya mountain for Buddhists, Fanjingshan National Nature Reserve was also established and designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, and later announced as a World Heritage Site in 2018.

Red Cloud Golden Summit, a thumb-like peak, is described by UNESCO as an “island of metamorphic rock in a sea of karst”, believed to have been formed somewhere between 2 million and 65 million years ago. For everyone else, one of the main appeals of visiting Fanjingshan is the stunning views from the summit.

Mushroom Stone is the landmark of Fanjingshan. Big on the top and small at the bottom, it is vividly formed like a mushroom. For more than one billion years , it has been standing there still and hit by the rainstorms, summer heat and winter snow year after year, which is the essence of what Buddhism says about “Remain unbiased” in every circumstance.

Old Golden Summit, with an elevation of 2,494 metres, is the highest scenic site of Fanjingshan. On the top of Old Golden Summit is a temple dedicated to Buddha Dipamkara which is as well as the best place to take some panoramic photos of Fanjingshan.

Cheng En Temple, located between the two summits with scarlet walls and black tiles, is the main building of Fanjingshan Temple Group and one of the four Royal temples in Fanjingshan which was built in the Ming Dynasty (1368AD-1644AD).

After the fantastic sightseeing, drive to Tongren City for accommodation.

Day 5 Tongren-Kaili

Sightseeing and Activities: Miao villages, Shiqiao Village, Upper Langde Village
Accommodation: Kaili
Meals:breakfast, lunch

After breakfast, you will be transferred about 3 hours to Kaili which is a big gathering of ethnic minority villages, especially the Miao Villages. The rest of today, after arrival at Kaili, is to visit two spectacular ethnic villages – Shiqiao Miao Village and Upper Langde Miao Village. In Shiqiao, you’ll see the old people still keep their old tradition of making special paper with trees’ bark by hand, which could be dated back to 700 years ago in Guizhou. The Upper Langde Miao Village , also known as the Long Skirt Miao and Chinese Folk Art Village, is 30 km away from Kaili. You can appreciate the special Miao wooden stilted buildings , feel the enthusiasm and hospitality of Miao people and enjoy colorful Lusheng singing and dancing performed by the local villagers there.

Accommodate at Kaili City.

Day 6 Kaili Departure

Sightseeing and Activities: Matang Gejia Village
Accommodation: none
Meals:breakfast

After breakfast, you will take a visit to Matang Gejia Village which is famous for its brilliant skills of making batiks and embroidery which are listed as provincial intangible cultural heritage. The buildings and custom there are also very original. Gejia group living in the village is not listed in the 55 minority groups in China just because of their tiny population.

After the tour, you will be escorted to the railway station in Kaili to catch your train to next destination. (Please note: if you are interested, you can extend your trip from Kaili to Rongjiang, Congjiang and Zhaoxing for an in-depth Guizhou Ethnic Culture Tour, and take a high speed train to Guilin from Zhaoxing in the end. Besides, if you want to get back to Guiyang to catch flight or train to other destination, we can also escort you to the airport or railway stations.)