Wanfenglin Scenic Area: Ten Thousand Peaks and Valley Villages
Step off the tour bus at Wanfenglin and you're standing among the emerald-green peaks of the Forest of Ten Thousand Peaks—one of the three largest karst topographies in southwest China and one of the five most beautiful parks in China. The landscape pulls your eye in multiple directions: needle-like limestone peaks rise from the valley floor, golden rapeseed fields spread across the basins, and small traditional villages nestle between the slopes. Farmers move through their fields and paths in the evening; this is lived-in landscape, not a postcard.
The main circuit from the gate runs 15 km and takes roughly 2 hours aboard the sightseeing bus, giving you both aerial views from the ridge-road viewpoints and ground-level perspective. Once you finish the shuttle route, a food market awaits at the park entrance, though locals say food tastes better from vendors outside the attraction. If the shuttle bus doesn't hold you long enough, you can explore freely on the valley floor below—the villages, rice paddies and lanes among the peaks sit on ordinary public roads with no entrance gate. Bicycles, e-bikes and small electric buggies hire out along the valley road, though bikes are restricted on the shuttle road during peak season daylight hours.
- Standard adult tickets: ¥70 (March–November), ¥60 (December–February)
- Sightseeing bus: ¥50
- Opening hours: 08:00–18:00 (March–October), 08:30–17:30 (November–February)
- Reach it by bus nos. 19, 103, 105, 301, or High-Speed Rail Tourist Bus 1
- Modern, clean hotels and homestays run by local families operate throughout the scenic area
Maling River Canyon: Waterfalls, Gorges and Kayak Rapids
The Maling River Canyon plunges so deep that you peer down into what locals call the gap between sky and earth. The valley walls rise sheer, the water flows fast over more than 80 dangerous beaches and through more than 70 deep pools, and waterfalls cascade down the canyon sides—fullest after rain. This is a national key scenic spot and a famous rafting destination in China: the first China International Kayak Rafting Competition was held here in 1998, and the full rafting course spans more than 50 km. Most visitors, though, come for the views rather than the paddle. A sightseeing lift saves you the roughly three-hour walk down into the gorge and back up, making a half-day visit feasible. Stand at the overlook and let the scale of the canyon work on you: the water silver against the dark stone, the walls rising on all sides.
- Admission: around ¥70
- Sightseeing lift (return): about ¥40
- Best to visit after rain, when waterfalls are fullest
Liu's Manor: A Warlord's Compound and Architectural Landmark
Liu's Manor, the former residence of Liu Xianqian, stands as the largest "Tunbao" style landlord and warlord building complex in China. Thirteen courtyard houses blend Chinese and Western styles across an expanse 360 metres north to south and 130 metres east to west. The architecture tells you stories about power, taste and the collision of cultures in early twentieth-century Guizhou. You move through connected courtyards, each revealing details of how wealth and authority shaped domestic space. Located in the Xiawutun Sub-district in the south of the city, it offers a grounded sense of local history that no museum alone can provide.
Qianxinan Prefecture Museum: Bouyei and Miao Heritage
The Qianxinan Bouyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture Museum, housed on Level 2 of the Ethnic Culture Center at Jushan Square, holds the historical and cultural inheritance of the region's two dominant ethnic groups. Displays trace the historical evolution of the Bouyei (Buyi) and Miao peoples, showcase their traditional crafts and dress, and include geological exhibits illuminating the karst landforms that shape the landscape you see outside. If you want to understand the people and geology of Xingyi beyond the peaks themselves, this is the place. Admission is free.
- Hours: 09:00–17:00
- Closed on the eve of Chinese New Year
- Reach it by bus nos. 3, 4, 6, 82, K29, ZK202, Xingyi 8, Xingyi 27, Xingyi 83, Xingyi 301, Xingyi D6, Xingyi Tourist Bus 1, Xinglong ZK205, or High-Speed Rail Tourist Bus 2
Ethnic Villages and Festivals: Bouyei and Miao Culture
Xingyi is the capital of Qianxinan Buyi and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, and the rural areas around the city hold traditional villages where Bouyei and Miao families maintain ancient wooden architecture, traditional crafts and daily ways of life. Visit to experience how people live—you can learn handicraft making, watch Miao and Buyi dances, hear singing and see ethnic costumes not as museum pieces but as living practice. Villagers are known for their hospitality, and these visits ground your understanding of the landscape in the lives of those who inhabit it.
Time your visit around a festival if you can. The Miao Flower Jumping Festival (January or February, dates set by individual villages) celebrates harvest with flower dances, seedling songs and traditional Miao sports. The Buyi people mark the 3rd day of the 3rd lunar month with ancestral rites, singing parties, dance performances and bullfighting. The Buyi June 6th (6th day of the 6th lunar month) brings communal drying of clothes and food, followed by meals of sticky rice and special dishes. The Torch Festival (Yi nationality, June 24th lunar) features torchlight dancing, horse racing and bullfighting. The Guizhou Southwest Ethnic Culture Festival in mid-August showcases Buyi, Miao and Yi traditions together.
Plan to spend at least two full days in Xingyi: one in Wanfenglin Scenic Area, where the karst peaks and working villages will occupy your morning and afternoon, and another exploring the Maling River Canyon, Liu's Manor and the Qianxinan Prefecture Museum. Arrange your visit around a festival if the calendar allows—these celebrations reveal the cultural depths that the landscape alone cannot express.