Last updated on Sept. 13, 2026
Xijiang, Guizhou, China
On our last visit to Chengdu, I planned to combine this trip with some exploration of the ethnic minority villages in Sichuan and Guizhou. Particularly interesting in the region are the Tibetan settlements in the mountains to the west, namely Kangding (Garzê) and its surroundings. To explore Miao (or Hmong) culture, known for its beautiful traditions surrounding hairstyles, you have to head more southeast to the neighbouring county of Guizhou to the Xijiang Miao Ethnic Village. In Liangshan, in southern Sichuan, you can discover more about the Yi tribes.
Due to time constraints, we decided on a trip to Xijiang (西江镇), one of the biggest Miao villages in China. From the perspective of exploring ethnic minority culture, it was quite disappointing. Like many other historical and cultural sites, the area has been turned into a Disneyland for Han Chinese visitors, who come here to dress up in the traditional Miao clothing and take pictures for their Xiaohongshu profile ("Red little book," China’s version of Instagram).
Getting to Xijiang Miao Village: More Than 800 km in 4 Hours
However, if you're short on time, it is possible to visit Xijiang in one day, though you need to plan and account for a lot of travel time. Generally, I would recommend staying overnight and returning the next day. Since it was Mid-Autumn or the Moon Festival, the booking options for trains were pretty scarce. It’s always worth it to refresh the Trip.com app (affiliate) or the Chinese railway app 12306 to find newly released tickets.
From Chengdu, it takes about four hours to get to Kaili South (Kailinan), the high-speed train station. Considering the distance of over 800 kilometers, the travel time is excellent. Upon arrival, you head straight to the tourist center. This is where I first realized that something was amiss.
Use this shortcut to the current connections from Chengdu to Kailinan on the bullet train and book easily via Trip.com (affiliate link). Another option is to travel directly to the Xijiang Miao Village by train from Chongqing.
Xijiang – an Ethnic Open Air Museum and a Disneyland of Sorts
From Kaili South (Kailinan), you must transfer to the final destination, which takes around 45 to 60 minutes and costs 35 RMB (less than 5 euros). A young woman on a bus, holding a microphone, endlessly hyped up the Miao village as a major tourist attraction and explained all the details in Mandarin Chinese.
The bus eventually stopped at a big tourist center and entrance to the Xijiang Miao Village minority area. Here we had to buy a ticket for 120 RMB (around 15 euros), including the shuttle transfer to the actual village. From the gate, you're brought to the beginning of the famous “thousand-household” place, which has been transformed into a massive open-air museum, where the local population seems to serve more as performers than as residents.
To be fair, local restaurants, hotels, and vendors probably make a better living from tourism than traditional farming. However, seeing Chinese tourists dressing up as locals and romanticizing Miao life for their Xiaohongshu profiles appears to be very bizarre to Western eyes. We came to explore Miao culture but ended up with
an anthropological view of Chinese tourism.
What remains enjoyable in Xijiang is the local food and strolling around the market, which feels a bit more traditional and features more authentic Miao people. From time to time, there are dance performances on the main square, though these are mostly a show and have little to do with the actual Miao life.
Another suggestion would be to explore some of the nearby villages. Since there are trips offered to them as well, you should expect Chinese tourists in those places too. However, continuing to Langde, Qingman, or Matang Gejia could be a more authentic experience. We didn't visit them, but they could be a better option than just walking around Xijiang.
To travel in the area, it's probably better to book one of the sightseeing buses beforehand, for example, by following my affiliate link to a tour through the settlement and up the hill. There's also a current promotion deal with 20% off at Trip.com on attractions in China running until the end of 2026, so it's worth checking out their offers as well. A little bit more expensive are the 2-day trips around Guizhou, available on Viator.
Another unique attraction or service in Xijiang, by the way, is the professional ear cleaning by the local women. This practice seems to be quite popular, albeit a bit unsettling. I wouldn't tell my otolaryngologist what I did! The practitioner uses various instruments, like feathers, to scratch and rub inside of your ear, which literally tickles the eardrum. The big finale is a vibration and sound therapy using something similar to a tuning fork. It's inexpensive and interesting, but also a little daring.
What Miao/Hmong Culture is About
Miao culture is quite fascinating. I visited some tribal areas near Vietnam’s Sa Pa village in 2010. Here Miaos are known as Hmong and famous for cultivating rice (and cannabis). When I was there, we walked for hours with the Hmong women just to get to a shop or from the farm back to the market village to sell their nature products to hiking tourists. To have a similar authentic experience, you can walk around Sa Pa or join one of the organized cultural Hmong treks through GetYourGuide (affiliate link).
Because of my experience in Vietnam, it felt strange seeing Chinese women dressed up in traditional Miao clothes, pretending to have fetched water from a nearby well. In fact, organizing water in Hmong/Miao communities isn’t nearly as romantic as it's portrayed for their Xiaohongzhu profiles.
One of the reasons I wanted to see Miao culture in China was the traditional hairstyles and wigs made from ancestors' hair. Some of these wigs are decades old and are worn for special events, serving as an unusual yet meaningful way of keeping the memory of deceased family members alive.
How to Get Back from Xijiang Miao Village to Kailinan and Chengdu?
To return to the high-speed train station at Kailinan, I suggest taking a taxi. Busses are available, but schedules might not align with your plans. In fact, the taxi drivers at the entrance gate charge roughly the same price as the bus - 35 RMB, if you negotiate, though even the first offer of 40 to 50 RMB per person seems fair.
The advantage of taking a taxi is that it's quicker and more flexible. After about 40 to 45 minutes, you'll arrive at the station, where you can grab some snacks (and souvenirs if you haven’t already bought them in the Xijiang Miao Village) and board the train back to Chengdu.