Historic sites in Guiyang
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Zhenshan Ethnic Village
Zhenshan ethnic village was first built during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), with a history of more than 400 years. Three sides of the village are surrounded by water. It is built against the mountains according to the local geological conditions. An ancient castle and barracks have remained largely intact in the village. Three fourths of the residents there are of Buyi nationality and the remaining are mostly of Miao nationality. There are about 120 households and three fourths of them are of Buyi nationality and one fourth of them are Miao people.
Zhenshan Village is a village of stone, where door frames, paths, roads and even quite a few utensils are all made of stone, and roofs are covered with slate.
On Juanuary the 10th every lunar year, the villagers hold the traditional dancing activities to celebrate the New Year. Buyi and Miao villagers in their best costumes sing and dance to the melodies from the Lusheng and the bamboo flutes to celebrate their own traditional festival. Legends said that long ago, once some bandits captured the Buyi forefather in the village. The villagers failed to rescue him by themselves and they asked the local Miao people for help. The Miaos played the Lusheng and sang Miao songs to communicate with him and the bandits could not understand. With the help of the Miaos, the forefather was rescued. From then on, the local Buyi have formed the custom of singing and dancing to appreciate the help from the Miao. Local people sing and dance on for 3 days for the festival each year. Besides this, Zhenshan Villagers also celebrate the traditional "Siyueba (April 8)" Festival and the "Qiyueban (July15)" Festival. Now, these festivals have become joyous days celebrated by Miao, Buyi, Dong, Zhuang, Shui, Gelao, or even the Han people.
In Zhenshan, young people take advantage of the chance to make friends and choose their loved future spouses through dancing and singing. Embroider is another important part of the folk custom, with rich contents of flowers, birds, insects and fish. Girls usually make embroiders of special styles and present it as a gift to their lovers.
There is a great variety of delicious dishes which travelers can try at Zhenshan, among which the most popular ones include bacon, smoked bean curd are very popular. Other dishes like dried peppers and pickled vegetable soup are worth trying.
