Dong Minority Nationality

Countless villages of Dong ethnic minority nationality are spread in green valleys, where fir trees are luxuriously green and rivers surge forward. Their homelands extend from Liping, Rongjiang, Congjiang, Jinping, Tianzhu, Zhenyuan, Jianhe county in Guizhou Province to Xinhuang, Tongdao, Shuining, and other counties in Hunan Province .

The Dong People wear beautiful simple clothes. The girls will wear flowery scarves on their heads and similar leg wrappings and shoes .

Architecture
Dongs' villages are built around water and mountains. Terrace peaks rising one higher than another. Storied buildings around riverbank or slopes are called 'diao jiao lou', which is constructed by fir-wood. A drum tower is specific, and every village has one or more. The drum tower is used to have a meeting or entertainment, especially on festival, the Dongs' people gather there to sing and dance. Design in shape of birds, flowers, dragon and phoenix show grandeur and majesty, which make tower is greatly outstanding.
Kinds of bridges are main drag for traffic. Wind-and-Ring bridges is famous for its character construct and high skill. Chengyang Wind and Ring Bridge is most famous. It is 165 meters long and 10 meters wide,15 to 20 high above; and tile roof on the bridge. Five kiosks are built in shape of multi-angle tower; handrail and pews are set on the bridge. Many tenons in holes link up none a nail the miraculous construction, which is Dongs' masterpiece.

Taboo
Do not argue on going first on his way.
Do not get money for transition.
Do not enter a room when a baby is born.
Do not support chopsticks on bowls after a meal.
Do not enter a woman's bedroom.
Do not cross legs when sitting and do get stools leaning on walls

Festivals
Flowery Shell Festival: Flowery shell festival is Dong nationality's traditional festival, a kind of athletic sports on the 3rd of the 3rd lunar month. It is said that the festival originates from a gathering 100 years ago. In order to make it more animated, villages set 3 iron shells, the first tied to a ring with red ribbon. When the shell is shot and the ring fell, villagers strive to get the ring. The one who gets the ring will get the first prize, and so on.
Today, a village as a unit will form a team which carries a big gun, prizes and gifts to go around the market or the town and then shool three shells. The first implies having a flourishing population, the second a good fortune and the third a bumper harvest. The shell fodder ignites the shell and the iron ring shoots to the sky. Team members stare at the ring and try to catch it. When it is grabbed, the team member will pass it onto another member or get out of the circle. That is the victory. It is repeated three times. After the game, the lads and lasses gather together to dance and play the reed-pipe wind instrument. At night, campfires are here and there: young people perform Dong drama and sing in antiphonal style freely. Cheers and laughs are everywhere.

Entertainment: Yueye and Road-blocking Song
In Dong's dialect, Yueye means that the collective go out to be guests, which is the Dong's tradition for sociable activities. Road-blocking song is for Dong nationality to meet or see off guests. The length of the time for Yueye depends on contents. Generally speaking, one person represents one family. Led by the most distinctive of the village, the group will go to the friendly village for a visit. When the guests from Village A come near village b, the hosts from Village B must meet them at the entrance while making blockade on the way with farm tools or household things. Horse team will ask questions by singing and the guest team will answer win songs. When the hosts get the right answer, they will remove the blockade. If the answer is wrong, all the blockades to let in the guests to take part in the rich friendly activities such as performing Dong play, Dong songs, dragon and lion dance, playing reed-pipe wind instrument. At the end, hosts will see off the guests and sing blocking-road songs again to persuade them to stay on. Both teams show their sorrow of parting and also their friendship as fellow countrymen.

Embroidery, weave, carve, paper-cut and paper chisel are with vivid character. Bamboo and wood weave produces are elegant and useful with high value.

Poesy is winning hearts. The poesy narrate original of the world, describe heroes sing high prize of the truly love.