Hi there, I just wanted to share with you our journey to Qian Jia Dong (千家峒) in Guangxi. My friend Kevin Saeteurn is a 2nd generation Mien American who told me about the story of Qianjiadong and how it would be one of his dreams to visit the ancestral homeland of his people. Kevins parents are immigrants from Laos to arrived to the United States as refugees. Neither his parents, Grandparents, or Greats have ever visited China but they do know about the story of Qianjiadong and the legend of the separated ox horn. This year in March planned a month long trip traveling to Cambodia, Thailand and working our way up north to China. We added Guilin to our itinerary due to the vast peaks and picturesque landscape. We stayed at the Guilin Sheraton where the hotel concierge informed us that they can hire a driver to take us to Qianjiadong. The next morning our driver met us and took us to a local travel agency to obtain more information. Staff at the agency have heard of Qianjiadong and had brochures with limited information of the place but as far as having first-hand knowledge of the area, they have never been. With just the limited information we received and directions we set off to find Qianjiadong. We drove through the provinces vast pastures and scenic ridges. After 3 hours we finally drove into a small town where our driver asked a local if our destination was nearby. We proceeded to drive up a curving mountain road until we finally saw a small village town with a large arch with “Qianjiadong” written in Chinese characters. We have finally found the Guangxi side of Qianjiadong! The place did not have much for us to see; a small and empty tourist office with a couple bored looking staff members and a small cottage outside with accommodation for visitors. We were set with a local tour guide, a young woman no older than 25 years old. We were disappointed find out she was not of Mien origin but a Han Chinese. She explains that most people in the area are Han, and if we did run into Yao’s or other ethnic minorities that would have been assimilated into Han culture. We set off for our tour walking through a trail down a valley and into a massive limestone cave. Kevin does not speak or understand Mandarin, mine is pretty limited (I’m an American born Chinese) and heavily relied on my cousin who was traveling with us to be our interrupter (My cousin moved immigrated to the U.S when he was 14). The Qianjiadong on the Guangxi side did not have much to offer other than natural landscapes. There are no remnants of anything Yao related with the exception of faux ox horns put in to add a more “ethnic” feel to it. Kevin was a little disappointed but knew he would unlikely meet a local person of Yao or Mien origin. With just one disappointment, my friend Kevin was happy he did make it to Qianjiadong as he feels that it should be a pilgrimage for all people of Mien origin. But he knows the sad truth that the younger generations of Mien Americans don’t share the same enthusiasm to trace back their ancestral roots nor maintain their cultural traditions. We did it and we also 12th Man Flagged it (the 12th Man flag indicates Seattle Seahawks fans). I’m pretty positive we are the first Seattleites to pull off such a stunt. I would like to know who else in this group has traveled to Qianjiadong? The area extends to the Hunan side and from what we gathered, the Hunan side has a bit more to see, ie: a museum and perhaps more ethnic Miens. Feel free to share our story. Sorry, this is poorly written but its just to give an idea of journey to this place.
Posted on: Thu, 03 Apr 2014 05:26:07 +0000
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