The World’s Number One Donga

The World’s Number One Donga

The World’s Number One Donga

Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region is a place of many ethnicities. Beyond the well-known destinations such as Guilin and Yangshuo, there exists an even more renowned wonder—the “World’s Number One Donga.” Its magic is beyond imagination.

The Qibailong area in Dahuai County, Guangxi, is known as the king of deep dongas and is hailed as the “World’s Number One Donga.” With depths nearing one thousand meters, these dongas remain free from floods or droughts year-round—a true miracle. Yet this wonder has not brought prosperity to the Yao people. Here, the land is barren, rocks abound, and water is scarce; there is not even an inch of flat ground for three steps around. Between the cracks in the rocks, every hoe strike yields a stalk of corn—this is the only life-sustaining crop for the Yao. The great mountains that their ancestors called home now house just 13 families. Those who could leave have gone, leaving behind only the elderly who refuse to depart and the children who are not yet grown.

Entering this place is like a baptism; a shock to the soul. Even now, looking at these photos leaves me unable to calm my heart for a long time.

During harvest season, an elderly person remains in the cornfield. It’s said that here, if a household can harvest three or four baskets of corn in a year, it’s considered an extravagant bumper crop. In disaster years, less than one basket is common.

An old woman stays in the cornfield. Upon asking, we learned she is already 95 years old. Her eye sockets are hollow like the dongas, her gaze sorrowful as if vacant, but at first glance you can tell she is the kindest and most innocent person among the crowd, reminding you of your own mother enjoying a peaceful retirement. Yet this old lady still toils desperately for a life of minimal needs, her expression serene and peaceful. I pressed the shutter and captured the expressions above until she walked toward the cornfield.

You can’t imagine that such houses are still inhabited by hardworking Yao people. This place is incredibly beautiful, yet it is the most underdeveloped area near Nanning.

On the mountains, you can often see small snakes like this, but don’t worry—they won’t bite you unless you provoke them.

Such a beautiful place is truly rare in the world. Perhaps this is the mystery of the “World’s Number One Donga.”

What’s even more unimaginable is that the Yao people exhume the bones of their deceased three years after burial, place them in jars, and then find a feng shui-favored spot to conduct rituals. These are the graves that stand high and see far...

Under the same blue sky, all are “people,” yet some outside the donga live in extreme wealth while those inside are destitute. Why such a vast difference? We ask the heavens, but the heavens are silent; we question the dongas, but the dongas are mute.

The heartbreaking stories don’t end there. In another donga near Qibailong, the Japanese funded the construction of a road and carried out ecological experiments in the village, bringing some improvement to the Yao people’s lives. But when I saw that all the Yao people were short—“celebrities” in stature, with no adult man exceeding 1.6 meters—I felt my heart weighed down like lead. The harsh living conditions in the dongas, lacking clothing, food, and nutrition, have created generational burdens on the Yao people. Can the battle against poverty be won in one fell swoop? The path to moderate prosperity must be long and arduous.

It was the height of summer, yet there were no birds in flight, no cicadas chirping. A seasoned professor traveling with us sighed, “Even birds have abandoned this place, yet people still live here.” But if not here, where else can they make a home? Relocation is undoubtedly a shortcut to escaping poverty, but how difficult it is. The obstacles to overcoming poverty lie not only in the environment but also in deeply rooted conservative mindsets, which coil around them like venomous snakes, devouring them. It’s said that some Yao people who accepted relocation returned not long after settling in. In response, the government took decisive action to demolish their earthen homes, cutting off their retreat. But they would rather return to live in caves than settle comfortably elsewhere. Year after year, the thing they long for the most—the event that would bring them alms, however small—is the sight of magpies on branches, a lucky omen. They hope someone will come to visit and offer charity. When visitors are scarce, they ask, “Why doesn’t anyone come?” The poor dream of wealth, the rich dream of immortality. But the dreams of the Yao people are truly heartbreaking. Poor and with diminished ambition, their dreams of prosperity remain far out of reach.

There are also absurd or touching stories in the dongas that linger in the mind. Before taking up his new post in Beijing, Guangxi’s notoriously corrupt official Cheng Kejie once brought an entourage to the famous scenic spot “Eight Li Nine Bends” midway through Qibailong, putting on a show of saying “goodbye!” The then-premier also made a dusty journey from Nanning, driving over a hundred li deep into the dongas. Faced with the shocking poverty of the Yao people, he couldn’t help but shed tears. One after the other, a corrupt official and an honest one both paid attention to the dongas. But years have passed, and the poverty remains. We are left with mixed feelings: Cheng enjoyed high rank and wealth, yet was insatiably greedy. While accepting bribes worth tens of millions and indulging with mistresses, did he remember the people still trapped in poverty, both inside and outside the dongas? A dull gunshot in the suburbs of Beijing testified to the vanity and hypocrisy of his farewell words. Meanwhile, the premier, who cared deeply about the people’s welfare, acted with integrity and resolve, yet even upon retirement, had not been able to lift millions out of poverty. This shows that it takes generations of officials to truly work hand-in-hand with the people, to endure hardship and persevere without faltering. “Apologizing to the farmers” should not be just the sentiment of one official, but the collective action of all government officials.

A trip to the dongas leaves an indelible impression. When will Qibailong reveal its sweet smile? When will the Yao people grow in ambition and stature, becoming worthy of plucking the golden fruits from the towering tree of moderate prosperity? I look forward to it, I long for it.