Perhaps the quintessential Dong village and packed with traditional wooden structures, several wind and rain bridges and five remarkable drum towers, Zhàoxīng is no longer the little-known paradise it once was. Its sheer uniqueness makes for a powerful draw, and the locals are certainly not complaining about the increase in visitors.
Yet, the essential, amazing nature of Zhàoxīng hasn’t changed. Yes, the restaurants on the main street have English menus, which is just as well as they eat rat (老鼠肉; lǎoshǔ ròu) in these parts, and there are now any number of quasi-inns and guesthouses offering rooms from ¥50. But away from the main street, Zhàoxīng remains a working farming village, where most people still speak only their native Dong language and are extremely welcoming. The tour groups might swoop in, but Zhàoxīng remains a very easy place to while away a few days.
Nearby, too, are mostly tourist-free Dong villages. Hike west out of Zhàoxīng from the bus station for an hour, up a steep hill and past some splendid rice terraces, and you’re in equally friendly Jītáng (基塘), which has its own drum tower. Head the other way out of Zhàoxīng through the fields and two hours later you reach Táng’ān (堂安), a village so essentially Dong it’s been named a living museum.
The Wangjiang Lou Hostel isn’t a hostel, but is a family-run place by the river with fresh and clean wooden rooms featuring hot showers and sit-down toilets. The most upmarket digs in the village can be found at the Zhàoxīng Bīnguǎn , where rooms are spotless, with tiny gleaming bathrooms. It’s a tour-group haunt, so it’s often booked out.
Getting here from Kǎilǐ is a slog. First you have to travel to Cóngjiāng (¥110, 4½ hours, five daily from 9am to 4pm) and then change for a bus to Zhàoxīng (¥19, two hours, 7.50am and 1pm). From Lípíng (黎平), there are five buses daily (¥25, 3½ hours, 8.20am to 2.50pm).
Heading out of Zhàoxīng, there are two morning buses (¥19, 7.30am and noon) to Cóngjiāng. If you're heading to Sānjiāng (三江) in Guǎngxī, you'll need to change buses in Lípíng (¥25, four daily, 7.20am, 9am, 10am, 1pm) or Cóngjiāng, where there are frequent buses to Guìlín (¥82) too.
