Anshun, located in the middle of Guizhou Province and the eastern
part of Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, is one of the nine hot destinations
of China and the tourism center of west Guizhou province. With a
total population of 2,523,000, Anshun has an area of 9,264 sq. km
with an altitude of 1,300 meters. Once an important centre for tea
trading, Anshun remains the commercial hub of western Guizhou.
As the center of South China Karst physiognomy, Anshun features
abundant rivers, waterfalls, gorges, caves, stone forests, lakes
and underground rivers. There are totally over one hundred
waterfalls and 1200 caves. The famous attractions include
Huangguoshu Waterfall: one of the Largest Waterfalls of Asia;
Dragon Palace (Longgong Cave): a marvelous Karst Wonder
;Tianxingqiao Scenic Area featured potted landscape, various
grotesque limestone formations, caves, stone forest on water,
waterfalls, forest and lakes, offers visitors a pleasant hiking
environment.
As an ethnic minority group area, Anshun has kept intact its unique
folklore. Stone village (Shitou Zhai) is a Buyi ethnic village
where all the architectures in the village are made of stone, stone
houses, stone walls, flagstone roofs, flagstone roads, stone
bridges and stone banks. It is said to be the Birthplace of wax
painting. The rich traditional festivals and customs of Buyi people
are feast for tourists’ eyes.
Besides, Anshun is an ideal place to discover ancient Han ethnic
culture. Tianlong Tunpu (Village Fortress), built during the reign
of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang of Ming Dynasty (1368AD to 1644 AD),
is valued highly by experts as the living fossil of Han ethnic
culture and the last ancient village of Ming Dynasty in the world.
The villagers are called Tunpu people who still live in forts and
keep a simple and peculiar army style, retaining their traditional
Ming lifestyles, clothing and hair styles. Dixi Drama is an
exclusive ritual dance of Tunpu people which contains functions of
drama, sacrificing and entertainment. It is staged up by during the
period of Chinese New Year, at festivals and celebrations and the
months after harvest.
