Zhaisha Dong Village 寨沙侗寨

About Zhaisha Dong Village

The centre of the village is a round square with the bell-and-drum tower standing at one corner of it; the county's own account calls the drum tower the landmark building of a Dong village. Below the tower is the caigetang, the ground the Dong keep for festival observances, and a timber stage stands in front of the square with clear water running in twists and turns beneath it, used for performances at festivals and for honoured guests. The village's houses are typical Dong buildings, but the county government is explicit that most of them are newly built two-storey wooden stilt houses; it describes the individual gates and courtyards as set in a pleasing irregularity, and the flagstone lanes and the running water as naturally joined.

The Dong drum tower as a building type is described on the same page: a string of gourd-shaped finials at the top, a middle built up in receding storeys like a pagoda, and eaves that are usually six-sided with each projecting angle turned up, the stacked eaves widening from top to bottom. Because the Dong hold odd numbers to be auspicious, the number of stacked eaves is always odd, anywhere from one storey to twenty-one.

Where the Taiping river runs past the village its channel widens and the current slackens; the water is clear to the bottom and cobbles lie along the bank. A number of old banyan trees stand in the village, which the county page puts at several decades old. Dong custom here includes the ganao festival, held on the nineteenth of the second, third, ninth and eleventh months, when young men and women dress up and meet at the ganao ground to sing to each other. The village also keeps a Dragon Boat festival taboo: the county records a legend that a young Dong woman was killed by a venomous snake while gathering zongzi wrapping leaves, after which the Dong stopped eating zongzi and ate fried cakes instead.

What to look for

• The bell-and-drum tower at the corner of the round central square, with the caigetang festival ground beneath it
• The timber stage in front of the square, with clear water winding beneath it
• The old banyan trees standing in the village
• The stretch of the Taiping river beside the village, where the channel widens and cobbles lie along the bank
• The stilt-house streetscape of gated courtyards, flagstone lanes and running water, most of it rebuilt rather than old

Location & getting there

Getting to Zhaisha Dong Village

Identify the main visitor approach and any separately managed houses, museums or performances. Ask before entering residential spaces or photographing residents.

• Search for 寨沙侗寨 with 铜仁市 and 江口县.