The Guizhou journal

Guizhou.

Water, shared places, changing lives

Begin at Huangguoshu, where the Baishui River drops in a broad curtain of water, then follow Guizhou’s forests, villages and changing cities. Guizhou’s karst water takes many forms: a river under limestone, a forest that holds rain, a valley farmed around peaks. Village towers and courtyards gather people and sound, while crafts and new city districts record changing work and aspirations.

A broad curtain of white water drops over a dark cliff at Huangguoshu, with mist rising below and no visitors in view. — Water falls in a broad curtain at Huangguoshu, with mist gathering at the base. Photograph by Kcx36, 31 July 2026; CC BY-SA 4.0.

Huangguoshu Waterfall · The Guizhou journal

Huangguoshu: the river becomes a waterfall

Explore this place ↗

Peaks, forests and riverbanks

Libo and Wanfenglin show limestone landscapes. Fanjingshan rises from older metamorphic rock; Guiyang brings the river into the city.

A steep, vegetated karst hill rises to a lone tree near its crest in Maolan, Libo. — A tree stands at the crest of a densely vegetated hill in Maolan, Libo. Photographed in May 2011.

Qiannan Buyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture

茂兰喀斯特森林保护区 ↗

在茂兰，森林与裸露石灰岩属于同一个生长系统，薄土、裂隙和地下水路共同作用。

Fields and cone-shaped peaks in the Wanfenglin landscape.

Qianxinan Buyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture

兴义万峰林与纳灰河谷 ↗

峰林围绕着农田、纳灰河和布依族村寨，农业与新兴旅游共同存在于山谷。

Tongren

Fanjingshan ↗

A metamorphic-rock mountain island shelters subtropical forest, endemic species and Buddhist landmarks.

Guiyang

Jiaxiu Pavilion ↗

A river pavilion whose name links Guiyang with the hopes of the imperial examination world.

Three ways into Guizhou

Follow water across landforms, village spaces where people gather and listen, and the crafts and urban histories that keep changing.

Water across different landforms

Limestone streams, waterfalls, red sandstone and underground chambers give water very different settings.

A seven-arched stone bridge crosses a green pool beneath overhanging trees at Xiaoqikong, Libo. — The vine-covered seven-arch bridge at Xiaoqikong stands above a green pool in this photograph taken in October 2010.

From the journal

Where Water Finds Its Way Through Libo’s Limestone ↗

At Xiaoqikong, a bridge, cascades, pools and a forested channel reveal how water threads through a limestone landscape.

From the journal

How Maolan’s Forest Takes Root in Karst ↗

In Maolan, pockets of soil in fissured limestone support a forest whose growth is closely tied to small differences in slope and rock form.

Shangnahui and the surrounding Wanfenglin fields, photographed in 2025.

From the journal

Rice, Fish and a Nahui Valley Season ↗

A 2020 household report and a 2022 agricultural demonstration document rice-fish work in Shang Nahui without treating one practice as universal.

From the journal

The river before and after the fall ↗

Huangguoshu becomes more than one famous view when the Baishui River, the cave behind the water and Xu Xiake’s writing enter the picture.

Red rock walls in the Chishui landscape.

From the journal

Chishui: Red Strata, River Water and Forest ↗

Red continental rocks, river-cut valleys and subtropical forest form a landscape whose water shapes both scenery and a working bamboo region.

Illuminated mineral formations inside Zhijin Cave.

From the journal

Zhijin Cave: Former Rivers Preserved Below the Surface ↗

Different cave levels preserve a history of groundwater routes, mineral deposits and uplift in a limestone landscape.

Village spaces and the sound of gathering

Drum towers and shared village landmarks make room for meeting, music and collective memory.

A drum tower in Zhaoxing, a communal setting for village life.

From the journal

When a Village Sings in Many Voices ↗

Dong Grand Song is built from interweaving voices, learned together and heard in places where village life gathers.

Fields, riverbanks and timber houses at Zhaoxing.

From the journal

Five Towers, Five Bridges, One Lived Village ↗

Zhaoxing’s rivers, paths and shared buildings make the village’s social geography visible.

Craft, knowledge and changing cities

Bamboo work, Shuishu learning and industrial migration connect materials and knowledge with changing lives.

Performers balance on individual bamboo poles and use long poles to move across the water at Chishui. — At Chishui, performers balance on individual bamboo poles and use long poles to move across the water, an activity identified by the resort site as single-bamboo drifting.

From the journal

Chishui Bamboo: Fine Strips and a River-Borne Skill ↗

A craftswoman’s training and the history of single-bamboo drifting show how bamboo knowledge changed with work and transport.

A reproduced page of Shuishu writing, shown for script comparison.

From the journal

Pan Laoping: A Life of Shuishu Learning in Libo ↗

The Libo inheritor Pan Laoping learned Shuishu within his family, then helped annotate manuscripts and teach another generation of specialists.

From the journal

A pavilion with an ambition ↗

On Guiyang’s Nanming River, the name Jiaxiu turns a city landmark into a story about learning, examinations and rebuilding.

A building in the reused 671 factory site in Panzhou.

From the journal

An industrial city between the mountains ↗

Third Front construction brought railways, factories and migration to Liupanshui; the former 671 factory adds a specific place to this modern history.

Nine city and prefecture journals

Open a city or autonomous prefecture for its places and complete article collection.

Photo credits and rights

Water falls in a broad curtain at Huangguoshu, with mist gathering at the base. Photograph by Kcx36, 31 July 2026; CC BY-SA 4.0.Kcx36 / CC BY-SA 4.0 · Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗ The display image was proportionally reduced and converted to WebP, without enlargement, cropping, or retouching.
A tree stands at the crest of a densely vegetated hill in Maolan, Libo. Photographed in May 2011.Nyx Ning · Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗ Orientation normalised, proportionally resized and encoded as WebP; no crop or retouch.
Fields and cone-shaped peaks in the Wanfenglin landscape.Philippe Semanaz from Paris, France · CC BY-SA 2.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗ Orientation normalised, proportionally resized and encoded as WebP; no crop or retouch.
Fanjingshan’s summit rocks above the clouds.Mande5255881 · CC BY-SA 3.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗ Orientation normalised, proportionally resized and encoded as WebP; no crop or retouch.
Jiaxiu Pavilion beside the Nanming River in Guiyang.xiquinhosilva · CC BY 2.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗ Orientation normalised, proportionally resized and encoded as WebP; no crop or retouch.
The vine-covered seven-arch bridge at Xiaoqikong stands above a green pool in this photograph taken in October 2010.Nyx Ning · Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗ Orientation normalised, proportionally resized and encoded as WebP; no crop or retouch.
Shangnahui and the surrounding Wanfenglin fields, photographed in 2025.名字长的让人受不了 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗ Orientation normalised, proportionally resized and encoded as WebP; no crop or retouch.
Red rock walls in the Chishui landscape.Nyx Ning · CC BY-SA 3.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗ Orientation normalised, proportionally resized and encoded as WebP; no crop or retouch.
Illuminated mineral formations inside Zhijin Cave.Esiymbro · CC BY-SA 4.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗ Orientation normalised, proportionally resized and encoded as WebP; no crop or retouch.
A drum tower in Zhaoxing, a communal setting for village life.User:Doron · CC BY-SA 3.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗ Orientation normalised, proportionally resized and encoded as WebP; no crop or retouch.
Fields, riverbanks and timber houses at Zhaoxing.Rutger van der Maar · CC BY 2.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗ Orientation normalised, proportionally resized and encoded as WebP; no crop or retouch.
At Chishui, performers balance on individual bamboo poles and use long poles to move across the water, an activity identified by the resort site as single-bamboo drifting.赤水河谷国家级度假区官方站；运营方页脚为贵州金遵景区管理有限公司; individual photographer not specified · Rights not independently confirmed Photo source ↗ Orientation normalised, proportionally resized and encoded as WebP; no crop or retouch.
A reproduced page of Shuishu writing, shown for script comparison.Unknown author; Wikimedia Commons facsimile · Public domain Photo source ↗ Orientation normalised, proportionally resized and encoded as WebP; no crop or retouch.
A building in the reused 671 factory site in Panzhou.Liupanshui Municipal Government tourism service; individual photographer not specified · Rights not independently confirmed Photo source ↗ Orientation normalised, proportionally resized and encoded as WebP; no crop or retouch.