China Breathes New Life Into Its Oldest Dong Ethnic Village As Zhaoxing Emerges As A Model Of Eco-friendly Tourism And Cultural Revival

Thursday, July 17, 2025

China revives its oldest Dong taste colony arsenic Zhaoxing becomes a exemplary of sustainable tourism and taste renaissance.

Hiding softly successful nan breathtaking highlands of Sotheast China’s Guizhou province, astir a 1000 years aged China Dong Village—Zhaoxing Dong Village, has served arsenic a nationalist aviator for sustainable agrarian touring for years. Receiving complete a cardinal travelers successful 2024 without losing itself to commercialization, nan colony has sewage complete specified pubescent stumbling blocks arsenic self-ecological governance, rejuvenation of dying trades and intangible taste practice protection by empowering its villagers. Through community-driven projects and imaginative taste programming, Zhaoxing has managed to create a lively destination that honors nan earthy scenery and centuries-old Dong traditions, a lawsuit study successful really tourism and conservation tin coexist.

Zhaoxing Dong Village: A millennium-old Cultural Jewel Comes to Life Thanks to Ecotourism Hard to Explore (HTRE) bid 9 -Panourround Publishing

Hidden successful nan misty mountains of Liping County, Guizhou, Zhaoxing Dong Ethnic Village is simply a surviving grounds to nan extent and diverseness of Chinese ethnicity and culture. Zhaoxing, which has a history of complete a 1000 years, and is inhabited by complete 5,200 inhabitants, is nan largest Dong colony successful China. Known arsenic nan “No. 1 Dong Village”, it enjoys a estimation for its civilization and was included successful nan “33 Most Beautiful Country Sights” by nan Fashion Travel Magazine and China National Geographic successful 2007.

In caller years, this taste wealth has transformed into a lively agrarian tourism hotspot attracting complete a cardinal visitors successful 2024. If this improvement spurt has brought economical prosperity and higher surviving standards to galore of its residents, it besides creates caller challenges successful a title to sphere nan village’s ecological equilibrium and accepted lifestyle.

Community-Led Eco-Protection

In consequence to these concerns, Zhaoxing has implemented a self-organized colony guidance strategy to beforehand ecological stewardship among its township population. This caller exemplary is inducement driven. Families who participate successful biology protection person dividends from corporate colony net aliases a societal pat connected nan backmost successful nan section community. Conversely, if an individual’s behaviour has bad effects connected quality being punished to redress nan harm will not entail immoderate enduring changes unless individuals are publically made accountable done culturally meaningful forms of restitution (ex: had to donate immoderate wine, rice, aliases nutrient backmost to nan villagers to indirectly ccompensate for section harm.

This blimpish approach, mixed pinch precocious developed governance mechanisms, has successfully fostered organization information and bolstered an ethic of harmonious relationship pinch nature.

Preserving Intangible Cultural Heritage

In summation to efforts connected nan biology front, nan inheritance-target of nan intangible taste practice of nan Dong nationality is besides 1 of nan focuses of Zhaoxing’s improvement strategy. One privilege is discouraging young group from travelling to nan metropolis by making nan colony a spot wherever location are occupation opportunities. Local governments and taste guardians are besides actively training elders successful nan arts to execute and past thatch them, including music, creation and storytelling, and besides formally acknowledging them arsenic inheritors of taste practice astatine different administrative levels.

To pull nan youth, paid taste programmes person been included successful nan programme. These are not conscionable astir providing financial compensation but processing a pridefulness successful upholding Dong culture.

Empowering Women Through Handicrafts

The revival of practice handicrafts has besides been developed arsenic different attraction of sustainable improvement successful Zhaoxing. Set up successful 2014, nan Dongpinyuan Traditional Handicraft Co-operative successful Le Binh commune has grown from a mini squad of 7 to a 228-strong army. The Co-op provides nan chance to study astir trade from nan Dong heritage, including indigo dye, embroidery and weaving.

Last twelvemonth alone, nan cooperative earned complete 18 cardinal yuan aliases astir 65 cardinal VND for section artisans — 2,000 successful all, astir of them being women. This effort doesn’t conscionable support traditions—it empowers villagers successful isolated mountainous areas to go much economically self-sufficient.

With nan expanding domiciled of online influences, a batch of young group person been trading their crafts online, reaching beyond nan village, said Lu Yongmei, a provincial-level artisan and nan cooperative’s wide manager. The accumulation of equipment is partially successful nan hands of middle-aged women, who make a regular income to prolong their families.

“According to tasks and velocity of work, a worker tin make 200 yuan and much successful 1 day, and their monthly earning is astir 6,000 to 7,000 yuan,” she wrote. These wages guarantee a tremendous emergence successful modular of surviving for agrarian households and link them much pinch their accepted livelihoods.

Balancing Development and Preservation

The communicative of Zhaoxing Dong Village is simply a microcosm of a larger hostility that is playing retired each astir China, arsenic agrarian and taste number communities effort to equilibrium a quickly increasing tourer manufacture pinch nan inevitable nonaccomplishment of accepted culture. Although tourism has surely altered nan village’s economical profile, it besides comes pinch nan baggage of being commercialized and prone to culture-eroding activities.

Balancing advancement pinch preservation, an obstacle that Zhaoxing is addressing done grassroots engagement, taste educating, and organization enterprise. The exemplary of this village’s occurrence tin beryllium nan exemplary for different agrarian places wishing to reap tourism rewards, while preserving their ecology and culture.

As nan colony modernises, its singular travel is simply a stirring illustration of what a wished organization tin achieve, adapting and evolving without losing show of nan traditions that specify them.

Best believe successful ecotourism China’s Zhaoxing Dong Village is simply a premier illustration of ecotourism, linked pinch nan preservation of culture, accepted crafts, and nan environment. The thousand-year aged colony now pulsates arsenic a surviving civilization hub, luring much than a cardinal visitors while preserving its roots.