Langde

Langde (朗德, Lǎngdé) is a Miao village 20 km south of Kaili.

Understand
Lang De has a lower part at the main road (S308) and a more picturesque upper part 2 km upstream the river that flow into the Bala River.

Now it is prettified for tourism and they will probably charge an entrance fee (from May 2017).

The village is in valley on a river. Langde can easily be visit as a day trip from Kaili to stroll along the small cobble stone streets. But it is worth spending a night or two in the village to explore the surrounding area.

Get in
Langde can easily reached by bus from Kaili.

From Kaili Bus Terminal there are frequent buses to Langde (40 min/¥13), which bring you directly to the upper village. From Kaili, they leave every hour at -:40 to Langde, and from Langde the bus leaves every hour at -:30.

Get around
In Langde you can walk around, as it is pretty small. The surrounding villages can be reached by foot or by taxi.

See and do
There are a couple of well maintained foot paths in the paddy fields and mountains between the upper and lower part of Langde. You can hike to other Miao villages further upstream. They are being developed for tourism, like Langde.

To visit the villages you can just walk on the road next to the river out of Langde. There is not much traffic on this road, so it is easy to walk on the road as far as Baode (4 km), take a minivan or hitch-hike.

Past Baode, you can continue on the road. Take the left road on the fork at the exit of Baode. There is almost no traffic on this road, which after 500 m changes from asphalt to gravel. It is another 6 km of easy walking on this road, following the river to Nanmeng. Nanmeng is home of the Lusheng Dancing Art.

In the surrounding area, there are some more villages that can be visited, but be prepared to walk all the way back to Baode (6 km) (if you can´t find a opportunity to hitch-hike back) where you can take (motor)taxis back to Langde.

Eat and drink
All homestays offer food. They are 3 noodle stalls, one next to the bridge at the upper village two on the main road in the lower village just 10 m from the bridge.

Buy
There is no ATM in Langde, but the bus that goes to Kaili stops in a small town just 10 min from Langde, were you can find a bank.

Sleep
There are a couple of new, simple and nice places (homestays) to stay in Upper Langde. One or two are at the main square (¥70/night).

The Miao Green Homestay is from the main square 100 m up the mountain.