Houses on Stilts and the Wind-Rain Bridge：Dong Villages in Liping
County，Guizhou Province The total area of Liping County in the province ofGuizhou is 4，441 square kilometers，and the populationis 50，000，70%of whom belong to the Dongethnic group.This is the largest concentration of this ethnicminority in the country.
The Dong Area of Scenic and Famous Sites in Liping islocated where the provinces of Hunan and Guizhou andthe Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region meet.The areais chock a block in ethnic culture，natural scenery，historicand cultural sites and sites related to the early historyof the CPC（known as“red tour sites”），making touristsreluctant to leave.One of these sites，the Diping Wind-Rain Bridge is a key cultural relic under national protec-tion.The Tang’an Dong Village is the only ecological museumof the Dong ethnic minority set up by China andthe Kingdom of Norway.Zhaoxing，one of the“six mostbeautiful ancient rural towns in China，”is one of the firstgroup of ten ethnic minority folk culture trial protectionsites.The Liping Tiansheng Bridge is the world’s largestnatural stone arch bridge.When the Dong ethnic minoritysongs were performed in Paris，people called them“the music of a sparkling fountain”and a“hidden civilization.”
The Liping National Forest Park is a major oxygengenerator and an ideal place to look for signs of the ecologyof the distant past.Qiaojie Street in the ancient townof Defeng has been compared to a famous painting of theQing Dynasty depicting scenes along the Grand Canaland the ancient courtyard houses.Walls and eaves in thetourist area of the town all give it an ancient atmosphere.
The original site of the“Liping Meeting，”a key cultural relic under national protection，is listed among the 100top red tour sites in the country and a site on one of thetop 30 red tour routes in the country.
Houses on stilts，which fully take into account the geologyand topography of the area，are a major feature ofDong villages in Liping.Guizhou is very mountainousand people say of the area that it’s hard to find any levelspot longer than a few feet，making construction very difficult.
Adapting to local conditions，the Dong people anchorthe large wooden support pillars for their houses inthe bedrock and then lay the floorboards on top.The areaunder the house allows good ventilation and keeps thehouse from becoming too stuffy.The area not only givesthem extra living space，but is also well-suited to the localclimate，which is rainy and humid.It’s like“killingtwo birds with one stone.”The house itself is a two-storywooden structure，usually made of the locally abundantfir，which is very solid.Although mortise and tendonare used in the joints of the building rather than nails，they are exceptionally sturdy.Zhaoxing is the largest andoldest Dong village in the country，and is known as the“number one village of the Dong ethnic group”because ithas the most ethnic character of any group of buildings inLiping.
The long-preserved simple appearance of Liping hasnot yet been over-influenced by commercialization，andyou can still get a true feeling for local life here.Justknock on any door and the owner will offer you a roomfor the night at the low price of just 10 to 20 yuan.Youcan also eat with the family of the house.The Dong minoritysit around a long low narrow table when they eat.
On the table they place traditional Dong dishes such aspreserved fish，pickled vegetables and squash.
