Guizhou in southwest China and attributed to subtropical plateau zone, is known as "Qian" for short. Mountains and hills take up over 97% area of Guizhou Province where visitors could see the most typical Kaste area in the world. With unique surroundings, varied topography, pleasant weather and a temperature of 15 °c on an average without sever cold in winter and sweltering hot in summer, Guiyang is suitable for travelers to visit all around the year.
This remote and exotic region is the homeland to Dong, Miao, Shui and other minorities. With its unsophisticated local customs, unique national culture and fantastic habits with a long history and numerous historic heritages and relics of many Chinese minorities, Guizhou is an ideal destination for ethnic lovers and adventure fans.
Chinese Name: 贵州
Location: Guizhou adjoins Sichuan Province and Chongqing Municipality to the north, Yunnan Province to the west, Guangxi Province to the south and Hunan Province to the east.
Provincial capital: Guiyang
Area: 176,100 square kilometers
Famous Cities: Guiyang, Kaili
Population: There are many ethnic groups in the province with a population of 39,310,000. 49 ethnic groups are living in Guizhou, 17 of whom are ethnic minorities and have lived here for generations. Ten ethnic groups of Han, Miao, Bouyei, Dong, Tujia, Yi, Gelao, Shui, Hui and Bai have a population of over 100,000 respectively. The population of ethnic minorities account for 36.77% of the provincial total, ranking third in China.
Guizhou consists of four prefecture-level cities--Guiyang, Liupanshui, Zunyi and Anshun, three minority autonomous prefectures--Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, Qiannan Miao and Bouyei Autonomous Prefecture and Qianxinan Bouyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, and two prefectures--Bijie and Tongren. Under the prefecture level, there are nine county-level cities of Kaili, Duyun, Xingyi, Tongren, Bijie, Chishui, Qingzhen, Renhuai and Fuquan and 79 counties (districts and special districts). Guiyang is the capital of the province.
Guizhou adjoins Sichuan Province and Chongqing Municipality to the north, Yunnan Province to the west, Guangxi Province to the south and Hunan Province to the east. Overall Guizhou is a mountainous province however it is more hilly in the west while the eastern and southern portions are relatively flat. The western part of the province forms part of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau
Miao minority of southeast of Guizhou province called paper-cut as cut flowers, or Miao stained paper. In the long practice of embroidery, artists found that using paper-cut patterns instead of painting patterns on the surface of embroidery could be accurate to copy constantly, which saved labor and time, and also can keep the embroider surface clean and bright, from then on, they used paper-cut patterns as embroidery "blueprint". In order to guarantee the quality of the embroidery, the Miao women put their smart talent and joys and sorrows of aesthetics to the paper-cut patterns to make it different with distinctive national features.
Guizhou food, also called Qian cuisine, consist of Guiyang dish, northern Guizhou dish and ethnic cuisine and so on several kinds of flavors. In the early Ming dynasty, the Guizhou cuisine has been mature; many dishes had a history of more than 600 years. The one big characteristic of Guizhou dishes is sour. Guizhou has a ballad that "three days do not eat sour food, peole would be staggered". Nearly every Guizhou citizen’s home would have pickled Chinese cabbage, which is really appetizing.
Guizhou is a multi-ethnic province, the province has a total of 56 nationalities, including native nationalities of Han, Miao, Buyi, Dong, Tujia, Yi, Hui, Bai, Kelao, Shui, Yao, Zhuang, She Maonan, Manchu, Mongolian, Mulam and Qiang of 18 minorities. At the end of 2009, Guizhou minority population accounts for 39% of the total population in the Guizhou province. The province has three ethnic autonomous prefectures and 11 ethnic autonomous counties. For thousands of years, all ethnic groups live in harmony, and create a colorful Guizhou culture together.
Guizhou provincial capital Guiyang is the railway hub in southwestern China, centered on Guiyang, Qian-Gui (Guizhou-Guangxi) railway, Chuan-Qian (Sichuan-Guizhou) railway, Gui-Kun (Guyang-Kunming) railway, Xiang-Qian (Hunan-Guizhou) four railway trunk lines run through Guizhou, the operating range of 2093.00 km (at the end of 2013). Gui-kun, Chuan-Qian and Xiang-Qian trunk railways have realized the electrification transformation, electric traction operational mileage of 1138 kilometers, freight is double than before. Nan-Kun (Nanning-Kunming) railway (in Guizhou province are 227 kilometers) has built; and there are some railway will soon be opened. After railway is completed, Guizhou as the main passage of southwest people will further improve its transport hub, which will play an important role for the economic development, not only in Guizhou, but also of Sichuan and Yunnan.
Guizhou is the important province of transportation hub in southwest China, and is the important transit stop to the coastal areas in northwest and southwest.
Guizhou forms a road network of centering around Guiyang and connecting various cities and counties in Guizhou. Southwest first highway—Guiyang to Huangguoshu waterfall highway was open to traffic and there are highways from Guiyang to Zunyi, Guiyang to Xinzhai of Guangxi.
As of December 2013, highway mileage in Guizhou province reached 3200 kilometers, including Lanhai, Hangrui, Xiarong, Rongzun Hukun, Shankun Duxiang,and Guiyang eight national beltways. Highway network has covered 68 counties and cities, county coverage rate of 77%.
Guizhou aviation system has formed “One trunk-line airport and eight feeder airports” layout, trunk-line airport is Guiyang airport, 8 feeder airports are respectively the Zunyi Xinzhou Airport, Tongren Fenghuang Airport, Xingyi Wanfenglin Airport, Anshun Huangguoshu Airport, Liping Airport, Libo Airport, Bijie Airport, and Huangping Airport. In 2013, passenger throughput of “One trunk-line airport and eight feeder airports” which has been constructed and put into use of 11.254 million person-time, take-off and landing flights 107446 sorties, year-on-year growth of 25.5% and 29.5% respectively. In addition, there will be built Liupanshui, Renhuai, Qianbei, Weining, and Luodian five regional airports, striving for covering nine cities by 2015 and forming “One trunk-line airport and thirteen feeder airports” layout.
Guizhou belongs to the humid subtropics monsoon climatic region. Its average annual rainfall ranges from 100 to 130 cm. The perennial relative humidity is over 70% and the frost-free period lasts about 270 days. The climate here is moist. The temperature changes slightly. It’s really pleasant that the weather is often warm in winter and cool in summer. The average temperature throughout the year in Guizhou is normally within 10℃ to 20℃. However, the climate is unstable. The local people always say, “There is different weather only within ten miles”. Moreover, different types of disastrous weather sometimes occur, including drought, the autumn wind, and hail. They all do harm to agricultural productivity.
Best season to visit Guizhou
The best time to travel in Guizhou is in spring and autumn, especially the late March to May, and September to mid-October. Spring (March to May) in Guizhou is rainy season. Summer in Guizhou is not too hot, and the air isn’t dry. The hottest month July has a temperature changing from 22 ℃ to 25 ℃. Autumn is mild and pleasant in Guizhou, but still has rainy days. Winter is the longest season among the four seasons in Guizhou. It is not too cold, and the coldest month January has a temperature varies from 3 ℃ to 6℃.
Clothes for travelling
If your choose to have your Guizhou Tour in May, the weather is cold in the morning and evening, but hot at noon in this month, tourists had better take your thin coats of Long-sleeved Tees. Generally, people can dress their T-shirt in summer season in Guizhou, while you need to put on your thick coats or sweaters in winter.
Avoid Peak Holidays
It is not a good idea to travel in China during Chinese holidays when huge numbers of Chinese people are travelling around. The busiest three national holidays in China are Chinese Spring Festival (usually in late Jan or early Feb.), International Labor Day (May 01 to 03) and National Day (Oct 01-07). Spring Festival is an especially crowded time to travel. The advantage of being in China at this time is that you will get the opportunity to experience "first hand" the significance of these celebrations in Chinese culture.
Other Tips
Guizhou is strongly influence by monsoon, and the changes in temperature airflow is frequent, don't forget to bring your umbrella before enjoying your Guizhou Tours.
Guizhou belongs to the sub-high altitude, having no strong plateau response.
Most scenic spots in Guizhou are mountain areas which have large temperature difference in the morning and evening; tourists need to pay more attention to keep warm.
Guiyang is the capital of Guizhou Province, and it is located at the east of the Yunnan- Guizhou Plateau in the southwest of China. The city features low latitude, high elevation and diversified landforms. Guiyang is the home to some of China's most spectacular sceneries with verdant mountains, and limestone peaks. And Jiaxiu Pavilion is a famous human landscape in Guiyang.
Kaili is located in a minority prefecture of Miao and Dong minorities, called as Qiandongnan as well in Chinese as it is located in southeast part of Guizhou. Traveling Kaili, you can visit Miao minority village to experience the minority custom. Visiting there you can enjoy some of the most fascinating minority villages you wish to encounter in China. Those Miao people who moved to America and Europe are known as Hmong people. Entire region hosts more than 100 festivals every year, with the greatest concentration around February, March, October and November. Qingman Short-skirt Miao Village and Xijiang Miao Village are most famous minority village in Kaili.
Located about 105km from Guiyang, Anshun is a key connecting between Sichuan Province and Guizhou Province. There is multi-ethnic region where is the home of Mulao Minority, Buyi Minority and Miao Minority. The colorful ethnic culture and customs are the most highlights of this region. It features in natural landscape, including the Huangguoshu Waterfall and Tianxingqiao Scenic Resort.