Off-season fun in Congjiang for 3 days unlocking terraced rice harvesting + the secret history of tree burials, even locals praise it as a great experience

Just got back from a scouting trip to Congjiang! Who says autumn and winter travel has no highlights? Here, you can personally harvest golden terraced fields, the Qiangshou tribe hides a thousand-year-old tree burial culture, and late at night in the Dong village, you can hear grandmas singing ancient ballads. Even the check-in spots avoid tour groups. Hurry and copy this “local secret edition” itinerary! 📅 Day 1: High-speed train direct! Enter the “living museum” of the Dong village Morning: No rushing through, first understand the “soul” of the Dong village - From Guiyang, take the high-speed train 1.5 hours to Congjiang Station, then head straight to Zhaoxing Dong Village. Don’t take the scenic area shuttle bus! Try the tricycle motorcycle at the village entrance (10 RMB/person), feel the mountain breeze passing through the rice fields, it’s more authentic than the bus. - First stop, don’t rush to the viewing platform, go to the Dong Village Museum (free)! Watch an 80-year-old grandma demonstrate “Dong cloth pounding,” the wooden mallet hits the blue cloth with a “bang bang” sound, and you can touch the Dong cloth dyed seven times with indigo grass, the texture is amazing. Afternoon: Try some “non-tourist” activities, be a Dong local 1. Follow grandma to the fields to pick vegetables: At the back mountain of Zhaoxing Dong Village, borrow a bamboo basket from a silver-adorned grandma, pick fresh rice field fish herbs and wild chili peppers. After picking, grandma’s family can process them; fish herbs feed the fish, chili peppers make dipping sauce. Participating throughout gives a great sense of accomplishment. 2. Don’t make small wax-dyed scarves, make something “practical”: Choose an old workshop hidden in the alleys, make a wax-dyed tablecloth or notebook cover. Grandma will teach you to draw the unique “Drum Tower pattern” of the Dong village, more meaningful than a small scarf, and you can take it home to use right away. 3. Off-the-beaten-path photo spot: Shoot “Dong village cooking smoke”: At 5 pm, go to the back mountain of Zhaoxing Middle School, see chimneys of every household emitting white smoke, gray tile wooden buildings wrapped in cooking smoke, with golden rice fields in the distance, it looks exactly like an ink painting. Evening: Unlock the “late-night Easter egg” of the Dong village - Don’t go to the commercialized song hall! Find the village’s “cultural leader” (the homestay owner can help contact), visit an ordinary Dong family, sit around the fire pit, listen to grandma sing “ancient Dong songs” without lyrics. The singing mixed with the firewood crackling is so healing it gives you goosebumps. - After 9 pm, stroll through the Dong village alleys, lanterns are lit, you can see grandpas and grandmas pounding clothes by the creek, the stone path reflects warm light, walking here is especially quiet and more atmospheric than daytime. 📅 Day 2: Terraced fields are more than for photos! Harvest + camping, play with “wild fun” Morning: Tang’an hike, take the “farmer’s route” - From Zhaoxing to Tang’an, don’t take the shuttle bus! Choose the **“Xiage-Tang’an” hiking route (3 hours total)**, along the way you’ll pass farmers’ grain drying yards, you can help turn the drying rice and taste freshly baked glutinous rice cakes, sweet with a hint of caramel. - Rest at the hillside cattle shed, not a trendy coffee shop! It’s a farmer’s field-watching shed. Ask the field-watching uncle for a cup of roasted tea, sit on the wooden bench watching egrets fly over the terraces, more down-to-earth than a coffee shop. Afternoon: Jiabang terraced fields, be the “owner of the rice field” - Take a car to Dangniu Village in Jiabang terraced fields, first borrow a sickle and bamboo hat from the homestay owner, then follow villagers to the fields to harvest rice! Hold rice ears with your left hand, swing the sickle with your right, tie the cut rice ears into “small bundles.” After the experience, the owner will mill the rice you harvested into rice grains, pack them in small bags for you to take home, very meaningful as a souvenir. - Don’t go to the usual viewing platform at sunset! Go to the “field ridge path” in Jiaye Village, stand between two rows of golden terraced fields, the sunset shines through the gaps in the rice ears. Photos taken here have no tourists, it feels like a “golden tunnel.” Evening: Terraced field starry sky camping, fall asleep listening to the “sound of rice ears” - Choose a simple campsite in Jiabang terraced fields (80 RMB per tent), no need to bring equipment, tents come with moisture-proof mats and sleeping bags. Lying in the tent, you can hear the “rustling” sound of wind blowing through rice ears, look up to see a sky full of stars, occasionally fireflies fly by, more romantic than staying in a homestay. 📅 Day 3: Explore the Qiangshou tribe! Skip the performances, discover “cultural secrets” Morning: Basha Miao Village, unlock “unknown” experiences - Take a car from Jiabang to Basha Miao Village, don’t wait for the “gun salute welcome” when entering! First go to the village elder’s home (book in advance through the homestay), listen to the elder talk about the “tree burial culture”: every Basha person plants a tree when born, and after death is buried under the tree, which continues to grow. So the trees in the village are “ancestor trees,” very shocking to hear. - Don’t watch the “sickle haircut performance,” find one of the three Miao barbers in the village, watch him shave a Miao man’s head. The sickle is sharp but the shave is very clean. You can ask the barber for a small lock of shaved hair tied with a red string as a souvenir, symbolizing “safety.” Afternoon: Experience “Miao craftsmanship,” take home “exclusive souvenirs” 1. Learn to weave “Miao hunting nets”: Find a Miao man in the village, learn to weave their small hunting nets made from mountain “kudzu vines.” The finished small net can be hung on your keys, more special than bought souvenirs. 2. Visit the “back mountain market”: There is a small market on the back mountain of Basha Miao Village, open only on Wednesdays and Saturdays. You can buy Miao-made sweetgum-dyed belts (30 RMB each) and wild honey (50 RMB per jin), all grown and produced by villagers, no fakes. Before departure: The last “Easter egg” - Before leaving Basha, go to the “sacred tree” at the village entrance, pick a sweetgum leaf. It is said this leaf brings “Basha blessings.” Press it in a book, every time you open the book you’ll remember this trip. 🚌 Transportation & Pitfall Avoidance Guide (Local Secret Edition) Transportation: Say no to “overpriced rides” - From Congjiang Station to Zhaoxing Dong Village: Besides buses and tricycle motorcycles, you can carpool (15 RMB/person). After exiting the station, look for drivers holding “Zhaoxing” signs, cheaper than unlicensed cars. - Zhaoxing-Jiabang-Basha: Ask homestay owners to help contact “local drivers,” round trip about 500 RMB, 100 RMB cheaper than platform car rentals. Drivers can also take you to off-the-beaten-path spots. Pitfalls: Avoid these “traps” 1. Dong village wax dyeing: Don’t buy “machine-printed” items. Check the back of the fabric; handmade wax dyeing has “wax oil traces” on the back, machine prints do not. 2. Terraced field harvesting: Before the experience, ask clearly if you can take home the rice you harvest. Some homestays charge extra, better to ask in advance to avoid trouble. 3. Basha photography: Before photographing Miao villagers, besides greeting, you can offer a cigarette (men) or a candy (women). They will be more willing to let you take photos. The beauty of Congjiang is not just taking a few photos and leaving, but the rice you personally harvested, the ancient stories you heard, and the handmade crafts you take home🌾 Playing like this for 3 days, when you tell friends about your trip, they’ll say “Now that’s a real trip!”