CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: MICHELE BURGESS/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO; LAOMA/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO; AN QI/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO. OPPOSITE: VIEW STOCK/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
CLOCKWISE FROM
TOP: Miao women
celebrating a
festival; picking
mountain tea in
Guizhou; the
Huangguoshu
Waterfall.GUIZHOU, IN RUGGED southwestern
China, has long been one of the
nation’s least developed provinces.
That has allowed minority groups
such as the Miao, the Dong and the Yi
to live much as they have for
centuries. But more recently, the
government has been promoting
Guizhou’s capital, Guiyang, as a tech
hub, and companies such as Alibaba,
Microsoft and Huawei are opening
offices in town. That’s led to better
infrastructure, more flights and even
an expanded high-speed rail service
from Guangzhou and Chongqing.
For travelers, Guizhou has become
an ideal weekend detour to combine
with popular destinations such as
Hong Kong or Chengdu, bot h a n easy
flight from Guiyang. Even as the
region modernizes, it remains a
showcase of southern China’s
centuries-old culture and cuisine.
Make the Hyatt Regency Guiyang
(hyatt.com; doubles from RMB900)
your base in t he capita l; in t he
mountainous countryside, bed down
at the humble but comfortable—and,
most importantly, English-
speaking—Perenc Hotel
(Huangguoshu Avenue; 86-851/3351-
7777; doubles from RMB515) in
Anshun. T+L A-List travel advisor
Stan Godwyn (stan.g@travelstore.
com; 1-916/830-5511) specializes in
China and can book a customized
Guizhou itinerary.
My first stop was the village of
Upper Langde, home to the Miao
(known elsewhere as the Hmong),
one of Guizhou’s most prominent
ethnic minorities. Bearded men
played folk songs on bamboo lusheng
as women wearing horn-shaped
silver headpieces offered me pungent
rice wine. In Guizhou, groups like
these give visitors a glimpse of
traditions that can’t be found in
China’s urban centers.
One misty morning, I visited the
Meitan Tea Ocean (519 Chahai Rd.;
86-180/8966-6064), the largest
expanse of contiguous tea
plantations in China, with bushes
that extend to the horizon in a
patchwork of green velvet. After a teaceremony, I took in the landscape from my perch high in a
pa goda a nd sipped a n ea r t hy brew made w it h deep red
leaves. Later, I drove past rice terraces and limestone
karst formations to Huangguoshu Waterfall, the biggest
in China, and walked along a winding corridor behind the
cascade that’s known as the Water-Curtain Cave.
An hour and a half ’s drive southwest, close to the town
of Qinglong, is the 24-Zig Road, China’s winding answer
to San Francisco’s Lombard Street. True to its name, the
road slaloms in 24 dramatic bends cut into a
mountainside. At the top, I stopped to watch a traveling
chorus of singers from a local Yi village, clad in richly
embroidered clothing, as they serenaded a small crowd
that had gathered.
Back in Guiyang, a notoriously late-night town, I went
to karaoke at Happy World (7 Dushi Rd.; 86-851/8588-0598)
with a Guizhou-born, California- raised friend, whose
cousins belted out Mandarin hits as we downed shots of
local baijiu. Hav ing worked up a n appetite, we hit Shaanxi
Road, a lively drag where food carts sold regional
specialties like skewers of fried chicken dipped in sesame
oil. As we slurped suan tang yu, Guizhou’s famous sour
fish soup, the tables filled with other revelers. They’d all
ma ke it to work by mor ning, t hey assured us, a nd ra ised
their glasses with an enthusiastic “Gan!” If this was
China’s true soul, I wanted to be a part of it.TRAVELANDLEISUREASIA.COM / SEPTEMBER 2019 43