The country of the Dong

Our expert China

The country of the Dong

Dong country The people here still wear their national costume on a daily basis and have not forgotten how much a simple greeting and a smile means. Vladimira Dvorakova / age fotostock;

The Dong are in the east of the province, a region that has only recently become open to tourism. The country of the Dong has become known from the photo-reportage of Yann Layma called the "Sea of Songs", as the Dong tend to express themselves by singing. Their rice fields are carved into the sides of steep mountains. They live in beautiful houses built of dark wood, and are very proud of their monumental "bridges of the Wind and the Rain" and "Drum Towers" that decorate their roofs of black tiles. Only buses (sometimes with couchettes) and local minibuses allow you to reach these villages on track roads. Here, the people wearing national costume on a daily basis still know the meaning of a simple greeting and a smile. Hiring a car with a driver in a group through a tour operator or leaving from Guilin, for example, and booking a stay in local spartan inns, is an excellent solution at a reasonable price.