Far from the skyscrapers and madness of Chinese megalopolises, welcome to the calm of the countryside! Far from a certain very Chinese homogeneity, welcome to plural China! Visiting South China, its charming villages and sublime countryside in exceptional landscapes and an astonishing variety, is therefore to immerse yourself in a millenary China and rich above all in its multiplicity. Visiting South China also means understanding two essential and complementary aspects of the country: its "open" and "closed", its outside and inside. Because the landlocked provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi remain the guardians of an apparently unchanging China. So focus on Guilin and the province of Guangxi, on the borders of the country and very close to neighbouring Vietnam.
Guilin, the front door
Guilin, with a population of nearly one million inhabitants, has experienced significant economic growth since the 1990s, largely due to tourism. However, this urban growth is difficult to reconcile with an extraordinary natural setting. Concrete modernism has imposed itself and the charm of Guilin, although still perceptible thanks to its so particular relief, has taken a hit. Every year, Guilin welcomes more than five million tourists, including four million Chinese. Indeed, the central and provincial governments have invested heavily in tourism, which is an essential growth lever to attract investors, thus opening up the region and opening it up to neighbouring provinces. Luxury hotel complexes are therefore increasingly numerous. Nevertheless, one can only be conquered by the beauty of the surrounding karst landscapes.
A little history...
Its rugged terrain and isolation have long kept Guangxi isolated from the rest of China and beyond. The region was partially conquered by a Han army during the Qin dynasty (221-206 BC), pushing the Zhuang natives, who had until then settled in the southern lands, to move west. Other minorities, such as the Yao and Miao, were driven by the Han from their native lands of Jiangxi and Hunan and found refuge in northern Guangxi. Thus, for centuries the province became the scene of continuous clashes between ethnic minorities and Han armies.
Under the Qing dynasty, Guangxi was painfully marked by the Taiping revolt (1851-1864). Hong Xiuquan, a Hakka from Guangxi who converted to Christianity, became the leader of the rebel troops, originally composed mainly of the unreached. Convinced that he was the brother of Jesus Christ, he was an egalitarian thinker, mixing the precepts of Christianity, Confucianism and Taoism. Very quickly the movement spread from Guangxi to other provinces in southern China and even made Nanjing its capital. The Manchu authorities of the time struggled to subdue the rebellion, which had several hundred thousand sympathizers. With the help of the West, they finally succeeded in eradicating one of the most deadly revolutionary uprisings in Chinese history.
The Second World War did not spare Guangxi either, which was marked by fighting with the Japanese enemy. It was not until the 1960s that the province began to break out of its silence and open up to the outside world: access to the sea was granted to it by Guangdong in 1965 and the construction of roads and communications boosted the local economy. Although it is still one of the poorest provinces in China today, its exceptional tourist development means that it is not too far behind its prosperous Cantonese neighbour.
Guangxi, a land of hiking
Nestled between thriving Guangdong and wild Guizhou, Guangxi is now well known to tourists, although few finally venture off the Guilin-Yangshuo road. What a pity! The province reveals many surprises that it would be very unfortunate to miss.
Its mountainous relief has long isolated Guangxi, still unknown even to the Chinese a few decades ago. Located on the borders of the country, on the border with Vietnam, the province was associated with non-Han peoples, and therefore barbaric. Since the 1950s, the Chinese government has been working on the census of these ethnic minorities: the Zhuang, Yao, Dong and other Yi from Guangxi were finally granted the right to vote. Because of its large share of the population, the province was even named in 1958 as one of China's five autonomous regions. Since then, museums have been opened and some villages have been preserved in order to attract tourists. While the approach is in some places blatantly mercantilist, it nevertheless allows the development of these remote areas and generally benefits their populations.
The Guilin-Yangshuo axis, overrun by tourist buses for a good part of the year, has become a must for tour operators. Today, the cities of Guangxi are industrializing, hotels are growing like mushrooms, sometimes to the detriment of the beautiful surrounding landscapes. But for the discerning traveller, Guangxi is still a wild land, where a change of scenery is guaranteed as you approach Vietnam. Minority villages and fabulous karst landscapes offer great opportunities for hikers. Budding ethnologists will also enjoy Huashan's frescoes, which describe the legends and history of the Zhuang people. As you will have understood, Guangxi lacks neither charm nor surprises if it is given a little time by going off the beaten track.
A cosmopolitan region
Guangxi is composed of a mosaic of peoples, of which the Zhuang remain the most important ethnic minority, the one that gives its name to the administrative name of the province: the Zhuang autonomous region of Guangxi. Other ethnic groups include Dong, Yi, Gelao, Molao and Miao (or Hmong), each of which is more or less assimilated to Han culture.
Largely isolated, the Zhuang represent about 32% of the population of Guangxi. Most of them live in this province, but they are also found in Yunnan, Guangdong, Hunan and Guizhou. Many of them live near the Zuo River, which originates in Vietnam and flows into the Yu River near Nanning. The Huashan site, with its cliffs covered with rock paintings dating back to the first millennium BC, offers an opportunity to immerse yourself in the history of the valiant ancestors of this minority.
The Zhuang are known to be skilled craftsmen, particularly in the manufacture of musical instruments such as bronze drums, a know-how that dates back more than 2,000 years. Music and song are inseparable from the culture of this minority. It is not uncommon to hear traditional Zhuang songs if you pass through some villages. Singers are often accompanied by musicians and their flutes, drums and cymbals. The Zhuang are above all animists, although they have also been influenced by Taoism and Buddhism. They worship flowers, the elements, mountains and rocks.
Smart info
When? When? The provinces of South China are generally subject to a humid subtropical climate, with moderately cold winters, long hot summers and heavy rainfall. From October to December, the weather is drier and of an ideal temperature: a recommended time to travel to Southern China, whether on the coast or in the interior. But the higher you get, the lower the temperatures get and the higher the humidity gets. In winter, mercury drops much lower than in coastal areas, and it is not uncommon to see frost or even occasional snowfall over northern Guangxi.
Getting there. Average price of a Paris-Hong Kong return flight: from €950 in high season, €650 in low season. Then domestic flight of 1h30 to reach Guilin
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