Chinese Wilderness in Guizhou: the Dong

Recently got back from some Chinese wilderness– went to Guizhou province for a weekend to see some soon to-be well known villages of Dong minority.


Zhaoxing Dong village, Guizhou

Dongs are famous for their architecture; two most prominent architectural structure types are:

A 'drum tower' – multi-layered roof tower used as a meeting place for the villagers. Roofs may be square, hexa - or octagonal with 4 and more layers (up to thirty!). Such towers used to house a hanging drum (hence the name), which was hit to announce a meeting or an emergency.


The largest drum tower in Zhaoxing village

'Wind and rain' bridge – a sheltered gallery-type bridge with beautiful towers on top and frescoes inside. Is aimed to be used as a common leisure place for villagers when the weather sucks – hence the name.


Wind and rain bridge in Diping, Guizhou