Guangxi Ethnic Minorities

Guangxi, located in Southern China, is bordered Yunnan to the west, Guangdong to the east and southeast, Hunan to the northwest and Guizhou to the north. Guangxi is the Zhuang Autonomous Region with the minority population more than 15 million people. The Yao, densely concentrated in some mountain districts, with several branches living in Guangxi, are an another ethnic minority in Guangxi.

It is highly recommended to get to Longsheng, located in the north of Guilin, to explore the Zhuang and Yao ethnic minorities. By visiting the villages and hiking along the rice paddies, travelers could not only enjoy fantastic rice terrace scenery, but also interact with minorities to enjoy their unique culture, way of living, religion, attire, architecture, art, marriage customs and more.

Zhuang Ethnic Minority

Zhuang ethnic minority is the largest minority group om China. Over 90% of the Zhuang people live in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Clothing

The main colors for Zhuang’s clothing are blue, black and brown. The types of clothing are different in different areas, especially for the women. In the northwest Guangxi, the women wear collarless, embroidered jackets buttoned yo the left along with loose and wide trousers, or pleated shirts and embroidered belts. In the southeast Guangxi, they wear collarless jackets buttoned to the left along with black square headbands on the head and loose trousers. Both women and men wear cloth shoes. The Zhuang women are skilled at weaving and embroidering.

Art

The Zhuang brocade are very famous around China and listed as one of the four brocades in China, together with Nanjing Yunjin Silk Brocade, Shu Brocade and Song Brocade.

Zhuang Brocade

Architecture

Like Miao, Dong, Yao minorities, the Zhuang architecture is wooden and mud stilt house. Some of the stilt houses are nestled up against hills facing rice paddies, some are located on the bank of rivers.

Festivals

The Zhuang people not only celebrate the traditional festivals like Chinese Spring Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Double Ninth Festival, but also celebrated some their own festivals such as Zhuang New Year, Singing Festival, Ox Soul Festival, Liuyueliu Festival, Qiyueqi Festival, Luotuo Festival, Yabai Festival, Chili Festival, Longduan Festival. Among the festivals, Singing Festival and Zhuang New Year are the well-known ones.

Zhuang Ethnic Minority Singing Festival

Top destinations to Explore Zhuang Ethnic Minority

It is good to reach Longsheng to Ping’an Zhuang Village, Jinzhu Zhuang Village, Longji Ancient Zhuang Village to visit the Zhuang people. It is good to do hiking in Longji Rice Terrace, you could even enjoy meals at local family’s house.

Ping’an Zhuang Village

Ping’an Zhuang Village has about 170 households, all of them are Zhuang minorities. There are two famous sites in Ping’an Village, one is “Moon with Seven Star” and “Nine Dragons and Five Tiger”. Most travelers choose to explore the the Zhuang village and the people by hiking. To cover the two sites in your hiking route, it may takes about 1.5 to 2 hours.

Recommended Zhuang Ethnic Minority Tour

>> 4 Days Highlights of Guilin, Yangshuo & Longji (Guilin / Yangshuo / Longsheng / Guilin)

Longji Rice Terrace with Zhuang People

Yao Ethnic Minority

The Yao ethnic minority has a population of 2,637,421 and over 70% of them live in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous region, Yunnan, Hunan, Guangdong, Guizhou and Jiangxi. For the difference of the living conditions, customs, clothing, the Yao people can be divided into Baiku Yao (the people who wear white trousers), Hong Yao (the Yao who like red clothes), Chashan Yao, Pan Yao, Shanzi Yao etc.

Red Yao Minority in Huangluo Yao Village

Clothing

Clothes of the Yao ethnic minority differ according to the regions where they live. However, their clothes are mainly made of blue cloth with various pictorial designs on the fabric. Men wear short shirts without collars, and trousers or pants with the lower part wrapped. Women wear trousers, short skirts or pleated skirts decorated with unique embroidery. Also their special hair adornments are dazzling and attractive. The Red Yao favors the red color for their clothes.

Art

The Yao are good at handicrafts. Also, the Yao like singing. Singing is featured at festival and events such as wedding.

Architecture

A typical Yao house is the wooden stilt house. It is a rectangular wood-and-bamboo-structure with usually three rooms, the sitting room in the middle, the bedrooms on both sides. Some hillside houses are two-storied, the upper story for living and the lower story for storing food and animals.

Yao's Wooden Stilt Houses

Festivals

Yao people have some important festivals like King Pan Festival (16th day of the 10th lunar month), Danu Festival (29th day of the 5th lunar month) and more.

Top Destinations to Explore Yao Ethnic Minority

In Longji Rice Terrace, you could meet another kind of minority - Yao. Explore the Red Yao in Huangluo Yao Village, Dazhai Village, Xiaozhai Village.

Huangluo Yao Village

Huangluo Yao Village, the World’s Longest Hair Village, is located on the main road to Longji Rice Terrace. There are around 82 households with only RED Yao ethnic minority living in Huangluo Yao Village. The women in the village keep long hair. 60 women have hair over 1 m and the longest one reaches 1.9 m. They always balance hair on their head. When they do some washing, travelers may see they washing hair in the river and they would proudly show the long hair to visitors.

Recommended Yao Ethnic Minority Tour

>> 5 Days Guilin Tour with Yangshuo & Longji Rice Terrace (Guilin / Longsheng / Guilin / Yangshuo / Guilin)

Huangluo Yao Village with Beautiful Terrace Scenery