The original Dong village left deep in the mountains of Guizhou was once a favorite place for European tourists

Guizhou tourism has become very popular in recent years, but when most tourists come to Qiandongnan, they will most likely go to Xijiang Miao Village, Zhaoxing Dong Village, or Basha Miao Village, known as the "last gunman tribe". And during festivals, we went to see the Xiaohuang Dong Village where thousands of people sang Dong songs. Few people go to the Huanggang Dong Village in the mountains.

I remember about eight or nine years ago, when I first arrived in Qiandongnan, Guizhou, I found that there were many private vans waiting to pick up foreigners at the station, and there were also many blond and blue-eyed foreigners with various The luggage is waiting and looking for the car. At that time, foreigners especially liked to come to Guizhou to see these original ecological villages. Later, as the foreign economy deteriorated and Guizhou's tourism infrastructure became better and better, and domestic tourists increased, the number of foreigners decreased. It was only later that I learned that Huanggang Dong Village is a place that European foreigners particularly like to visit.

The Huanggang Dong Village is not very beautiful, and it is not as impressive as the Xijiang Miao Village, but this place becomes more and more interesting as it tastes better because the original ecological life here is still well preserved. Unlike those famous ancient towns and villages, which are full of shops, Huanggang Dong Village has a very low degree of commercialization. Only in recent years have some small shops and restaurants begun to appear. The biggest change in the village is that China Travel Service Investment built a beautiful B&B here. Some people may think that such changes disturb the original ecology of the village, but I feel that everything must change. Huanggang Dong Village is one of the poorest villages due to its remote location, inconvenient transportation and long-term backwardness. In recent years, with the intensification of poverty alleviation policies, the village has begun to gradually escape poverty, and the people living there also need to change. Better living conditions are needed. Nothing is static, and the real Shangri-La only exists in novels.

Today, the women in Huanggang Dong Village still wear traditional ethnic costumes, and the men may be more sinicized. But in this regard, it is much better than many commercial villages. In addition to clothing, the people and life here also retain intact traditions and original ecology. People's attitude towards tourists is very friendly, their eyes are pure and without interest, and their smiles come from the bottom of their hearts.

The buildings in the village look a bit dilapidated, and the living conditions of the locals seem to be relatively poor. I feel that they are very capable, and the women can also do the heavy work of men. My companion joked that her two deepest impressions of Huanggang Dong Village were: one was looking after children, and the other was looking at ducks.

Most women, but also a few men, were walking around with children on their backs. Of course, we also saw many children. After school, it was strange to see us holding cameras. I reached out to a child, and he actually took my hand and let me lead him with confidence. In addition to seeing a lot of children, another thing that is more abundant is ducks. I heard from the tour guide that the people of Huanggang Dong Village have a unique affection for ducks. This kind of affection has no reason. If you steal their pigs or their cattle, it may not be as good as if you steal their ducks. The reaction is so big that if you offend the duck, the women of the duck family may come out and fight you tooth and nail.

The women will not drive the ducks up the mountain. Instead, they will put the ducks in cages and carry them up the mountain, just like carrying children, taking good care of them. Even the native Dong people don’t know why people here like ducks so much. Of course, people here also eat duck. We had duck for lunch.

In addition, according to the tour guide, the men here are very happy, eating, smoking and drinking, but the women here have to work very hard and do all kinds of work. This time I came, I didn’t feel that deeply, but I did see women working everywhere in the village. Some of the work looked very tiring, and they were also doing men’s work. Of course, I also saw many men working.

Regarding "happiness", I remember a little story about a rich man and a poor fisherman, lying on the shore. The fisherman asked the rich man why he worked so hard, and the rich man said it was to be quiet. Lying here comfortably, the fisherman retorted, "I don't have to work hard all my life, why don't I just lie here?" This sentence may seem like effort is in vain, but in fact, the level of happiness can be high or low. Low-level happiness cannot understand high-level happiness. At least the rich have no worries, but the fishermen have a problem. The days will go on. Therefore, I never encourage people who think about traveling around to "realize themselves" without working hard.

The same is true for Huanggang Dong Village, and the same is true for Bhutan, which has a so-called high happiness index. Low-level happiness is not an excuse to block progress. It's a bit off topic. Although I only stayed in Huanggang Dong Village for one day, I still like it very much, with its small bridges and flowing water, wooden houses in the mountains and forests, hard-working people, and many cute ducks. It is said that the festive atmosphere and folk customs here are among the best in Congjiang. Maybe you have time, preferably during the holidays, to come and see it again.

With the use of Congjiang High-speed Railway Station, Huanggang Dong Village, which is only one hour away from the High-speed Railway Station, will also welcome more and more tourists in the future. If there is a large influx of tourists, this Primitive villages will also be greatly impacted by commercialization. Maybe many things will no longer be visible in the future, but who knows how they will change in the future. So far, this is the most authentic traditional village I have ever visited.