Huang Yao Travel Guide
Huang Yao (Chinese: 黄姚; pinyin: Huangyao) is an ancient town with a history of thousand years, built in 927 B.C, and reached its prime during the reign of Emperor Qianlong (1736-1795) of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Huangyao is situated in the northest of Zhaoping,Guangxi,China, by the lower reaches of LiRiver and 200km from Guilin, 148km from Yangshuo County. The name of Huang Yao came from the family names of the townspeople were mainly Huang and Yao.It has been known as a mini-Guilin for its typical development of karst topography, covering an area of 3.6 square km.
Traditional culture in Huang Yao
Even though Huang Yao has survived for hundred years, now it is still steady and even after hundreds of years later. Many of the buildings are in primitive simplicity with blue bricks and black tiles.Here you can see more than 30 temples,ancestral halls and pavillions are well preserved. With fabulous mountains, caves, pavilions, temples, ancestor hills, old trees and tablets, every corner of Huang Yao town shows a typically Chinese features. The weather in Huangyao is similar to Yangshuo, a little bit hotter. Therefore, the traveling in Huangyao is good.
In this ancient place, it spreads many Chinese cultures. People here typically loved to make use of numbers to symbolize good luck, respect and well wishes. The modest slates of Huangyao’s streets also feature this characteristic. On the main commercial streets, the slabs of slate are in odd numbers, like three, five and seven. The numbers reflect the importance of these streets, and the slates are incised into the same size, smoothness and plane. The number of slates fronting a household is often three, with some wealthier families having five or seven. But some small alleys and extensions of main streets are made up of even-number slates or gravel. Water is a necessity of daily life and vital to the irrigation of farmlands, so the Chinese fengshui theory attaches great importance to water. It holds that it is good for the people if a river near their dwelling bends around. Huangyao Town is embraced by flows of winding water, therefore, according to Chinese fengshui, Huangyao is an ideal place for people to live. On a practical level, water running peacefully along a winding channel will provide greater convenience for daily life. And so these rich natural resources gave birth to Huangyao Town, and sustained its development in this isolated environment. The people in Huang Yao ancient town do have their festivals, there are the two important festivals, one third of the third lunar month, in the old stage to sing opera; the other one is Fourteen in the lunar calendar, the Five-Year Plan Two days, there was a festival custom of He Shen, which is a grapefruit-point night lights on the river, lasting around 2.5 hours.
Local specialities in Huang Yao
For local specialities in Huang Yao ancient town, the Huang Yao tofu, mushroom fried rice cake, sweet potato as well as tea, are the famous around Guangxi Province. People in Huang Yao were very hospitable, if you chat with a few others, most likely he will ask you to his home to eat, if you want to try the rice farm, you definitely can.
Recommended Tour Itinerary about Huangyao:
Popular Tours Itinerary: Guilin (Li River & Yangshuo)→Yangshuo (Backpackers paradise)→Longsheng ( Rice Terrace Fields)→Sanjiang (Minority and Wind & Rain Bridge)→Zhaoxing (Minority)→Huang yao (Minority)→Kaili & Guiyang
