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Guizhou is a multi-minority province in Southwest China. It is located southwest of Beijing, and northwest of Guilin and Hong Kong. Guizhou is famous for its marvelous landscapes, unsophisticated ethnic customs, cultural and historical relics, and pleasant climate.
So, how to plan a Guizhou tour? In this ultimate Guizhou trip planning guide, we have listed some essential travel information, like best to visit, where to start or end the tour, how to get to Guizhou, best places to visit, top attractions & best things to do, how long to stay and itineraries suggestions, where to stay and more for your Guizhou trip.
Guizhou is located in subtropical zone with a humid monsoon climate, with an average temperature around 15°C for all year round. July is the hottest month of the year and the average temperature is around 22°C-25°C. While, January is the coldest month with an average temperature around 3°C-6°C. Compared with the same latitude of the Northern Hemisphere, Guizhou is warmer and more comfortable. The average annual rainfall is around 1100mm-1300mm and mostly concentrate on Summer. The South Guizhou has more rainfall than the North, while the East Guizhou has more rainfall than the West. The best time to visit Guizhou is from March to November.
Destinations | Average Temperature | Best Time to Visit |
---|---|---|
Guiyang & Surrounding Area | 16.2 °C | 61.2 °F | March to November |
Anshun & Surrounding Area | 15.4 °C | 59.6 °F | May to October, especially June to August for Huangguoshu Waterfall amazing scene |
Kaili & Surrounding Area | 16.5°C | 61.7 °F | Late-March to late-June; late August to mid-November |
Fanjingshan | 13.9°C | 57.1 °F | April to November |
Xingyi | 16.4°C | 61.5 °F | Late February to Middle April for blossomed rapeseed flowers |
There are several highly recommended destinations scattered around Guizhou in different directions that you can go there directly or you need to make a transfer from the gateway cities/counties. (1) Most travelers would like to reach Guiyang - the capital of Guizhou Province first and then get from Guiyang to other destinations. (2) For travelers who go from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (such as Guilin, Yangshuo or Longsheng Rice Terraces) to Guizhou, the best gateway is Congjiang County which lies at the border of Guizhou and Guangxi. Along this route, you can go like this: Congjiang - Zhaoxing - Rongjiang - Kaili - Guiyang - Other Destinations. (3) If you plan to go one or two destinations separately, it is a good idea to travel directly there. Usually, part of travelers would like to visit Mount Fanjing for one trip, you can fly to or take high speed train to Tongren City and make a transfer to Fanjingshan. As well, some travelers may link Zhangjiajie with Fanjingshan in one go, that’s to say, there is no need to transfer from other destinations in Guizhou.
Flights to Guizhou
At present, there are 11 airports in Guizhou, including Guiyang Longdongbao International Airport, Kaili Huangping Airport, Tongren Fenghuang Airport, Liping Airport, Libo Airport, Anshun Huangguoshu Airport, Xingyi Wanfenglin Airport, Liupanshui Yuezhao Airport, Bijie Feixiong Airport, Zunyi Xinzhao Airport, Zunyi Maotai Airport. Among all the airports, Guiyang Longdongbao International Airport and Tongren Fenghuang Airport are the most frequented used ones.
Tongren Fenghuang Airport (铜仁凤凰机场) Tongren Fenghuang Airport (IATA: TEN; ICAO: ZUTR) is the nearest airport for travelers who want to make a visit to Mount Fanjing. Tongren Fenghuang Airport serves only domestic flights with about 30 major cities including Beijing (2.5h), Shanghai (2.5h), Guiyang (1h), Guilin (1h), Kunming (2h), Hangzhou (2.5h), Guangzhou (1.5h), Shenzhen (1.5h), Xiamen (2h), etc. The airport is about 53 km from Fangjingshan and usually needs about 1 hour and 20 minutes by car. Besides, some direct buses are available from the airport to Fanjingshan every day.
Travelers can take high speed trains from other main destinations to Guizhou, as well they can travel within Guizhou by high speed train. At present, Guiyang, Kaili, Congjiang, Rongjiang, Tongren, Anshun, Duyun, Bijie and more cities have high speed train connecting.
Many G trains and D trains would reach Guiyang from the nearby Kaili (about 40 mins), Anshun (about 30 mins), Rongjiang (about 1.5 hrs), Congjiang (1.5-2 hrs), Tongren (1.5-2 hrs), and other cities like Beijing (8.5-10.5 hrs), Shanghai (8.5-9.5 hrs), Guangzhou (4.5-5.5 hrs), Kunming (2-2.5 hrs), Guilin (2.5-3 hrs), Wuhan (4.5-5.5 hrs), Changsha (3-3.5 hrs), and Hangzhou (7.5-8.5 hours), etc. There are three train stations in Guiyang - Guiyang Railway Station, Guiyang North Railway Station, Guiyang East Railway Station. Among them, Guiyang East and Guizhou North are used for high speed trains. Guiyang East is about 14 km from Guiyang downtown, taking 0.5 hour by driving; and Guiyang North is 8.5 km from downtown area, which needs about 20 minutes by driving.
The ethic people in Guizhou celebrate more than 1,000 ethnic festivals throughout the year. If you happen to visit Guizhou during the festival time, you will get more surprises and you can join in the local ethnic people to celebrate the festivals.
Ethnic Festivals | Date of Lunar Calendar | Place to Experience | Highlights |
---|---|---|---|
Lusheng Festival in Zhouxi | In February (normally lasts 3 days) | Zhouxi Town, Kaili City | Lusheng dance, singing and bull fighting, celebrated not only by native Miao groups, also other regions of Guizhou and Sichuan. |
Sisters' Meal festival | March 15 | Shidong Town, Taijiang County | Eating sisters’ meals, appreciate bullfighting, local dancing and hear the Lusheng concerts |
Dragon Boat Festival | May 24-27 | Gulong Town, Huangping County | Pushing the dragon boats with a willow dragon's head of horns and red pendants in the water and send presents of ducks, geese and pigs to God of dragon |
Miao New Year | October- November (vary in each year) | Leishan County | Play Lusheng, bullfights, horse-racing, singing and dancing with their traditional clothing |
Dong New Year | October-November (vary in different regions) | Southeast Guizhou | Make new clothes, clean their houses, make glutinous rice cakes, slaughter pigs, cattle for feasts, and cook the cold dish to sacrifice to ancestors on the eve of the New Year |
Grand Song Festival of Dong | November 28 | Xiaohuang Village in Congjiang County | The Grand Song of Dong ethnic group was included on the World's intangible cultural heritage list in 2009. Nearly 1000 villagers, ranging from four years old to 60, will take part in the festival. |
Goddess of Thunder Worship Festival | June 15 | Huanggang Village in Liping County | Prepare a banquet and carry out a solemn worship ceremony by chanting towards sky for forgiveness and blessing from Goddess of Thunder. |
Note: The above info and dates are for reference. It may change based on the real situation. And if you are interested in any of the above ethnic festival, please contact us to get the corresponding date of Western Calendar and more festival details.
Guizhou is large and for most visitors, they prefer to plan a long trip covering 2-4 destinations in this province to explore the best natural wonders and proud diverse ethnic minority culture there. For such types, they usually travel from Guiyang and plan an itinerary like Guiyang - Anshun - Qiandongnan (Kaili, Rongjiang, Congjiang or Zhaoxing), or Guiyang - Anshun - Fanjingshan - Qiandongnan, which usually needs 5-7 days
1-2 days in Guiyang:
For easy arrival by flights or bullet train. And take the rest time discovering Qingyan Old Town, Jiaxiu Tower and 1 or 2 top city parks to know the cool and pleasant Guiyang capital city;
1 days in Anshun:
Absolutely admiring the provincial symbolic Huangguoshu Waterfall with various types of beauty. Drop by the dazzling Dragon Palace, or Tianlong Tunpu Military Village if you have 1 more day there;
2-3 days in Qiandongnan (Southeast Guizhou):
Spend 1 day visiting the No.1 Xijiang Miao Village and Qingman Miao Village with Miao girls dressing mini-skirt in Kaili and transfer along to Rongjiang to see the large Zengchong Dong Village. Spend more wonderful time in Congjiang visiting Biasha Miao Village and enjoying the show of Biasha men holding guns, and transfer to Zhaoxing to explore the largest Zhaoxing Dong Village. explore deep to Zhanli Dong Village, Xiaohuang Dong Village in Congjiang or go north to Zhenyuan Old Town if you have another 1-2 days.
1 day in Fangjingshan
If you are fond of the incredible natural formation, plan 1-2 days for the transfer and full discovery of the UNESCO World Natural Heritage mountain resort.
To make your travel more interesting and memorable, it is a good idea to extend your Guizhou tour to more destinations in China. Guizhou is usually served as the second trip to China that you can focus tour visiting on the hot regions. Many travelers would like to put Guilin, Yangshuo and Longji Rice Terrace trip before the Guizhou tour that you can enjoy fancy karst landscape of mountains and water as well as amazing rice terraces in China. Other parts of travelers who want to visit Mount Fanjing would like put it into the Zhangjiajie extension trip. This kind of travelers would make 3-4 days visit in Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon with Glass Bridge experience, Tianmen Mountain, and then transfer to Fenghuang Ancient Town for a marvel at the most beautiful town in China before heading to Fanjingshan. Besides, you can add Yunnan, a colorful province with pleasant scenery and wonderful ethnic culture of Naxi, Bai, Tibetan, Hani and other ethnic groups into your China Guizhou trip. Sichuan with adorable giant pandas and world largest Buddha statue, Chongqing where the starting or ending point of relaxing Yangtze River cruise... are worth your time for one trip. If you have your own ideas and requirements, please feel free to let us know. The China Guizhou tours can be customized based on your needs.
Top 4 Guizhou Tours chosen by most customers to explore Guizhou in the best way. Check the detailed itinerary, or tailor your own trip now with us.
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