Bāshā

Introducing Bāshā

This fascinating Miao village up the hill from Cóngjiāng is famous for its men who still wear period clothes, carry swords and wear their long hair rolled up into topknots. Even young boys wear the topknot and carry daggers. Though most say these traditions date from the Ming dynasty, others believe they may date back to the Tang or Song era.

Neither Han culture nor modern technology has made serious inroads here (yet) and nobody, even the villagers themselves, seems sure why their ancient customs stay so well preserved.

The tricky part of a visit here is actually seeing the men, as during the day the majority are out hunting or farming. Try to time your visit with a festival for the chance to see the entire village.

Bāshā is increasingly showing up on travellers’ itineraries as they village hop into Guǎngxī and the inhabitants are starting to respond. Chinese-English signs now point the way to various corners of this sprawling settlement and bilingual plaques explain the use of certain buildings.

There an irregularly collected Y15 entrance fee to Bāshā but if no-one’s tracked you down for it by the time you’re ready to leave, don’t worry about it – it just means the Miao here have decided to give you a laissez-passer.

There are plenty of hotels and restaurants in Cóngjiāng if you want to spend the night.

Last updated: Feb 17, 2009