BanGao Ethnic Culture Village

BanGao Ethnic Culture Village

BanGao Ethnic Culture Village

BanGao Ethnic Culture Village is located in Sandong Township in the central-southern part of Sandu Shui Autonomous County, in the heartland of the Shui ethnic group’s settlement area, about 30 kilometers from the county seat. The village has a total of 289 households and 1,424 residents, spread across 7 natural hamlets. The vast majority of the inhabitants are of the Shui ethnic group, accounting for over 98% of the village population.

As the cultural hub of the Shui people, BanGao Village boasts profound and mysterious ethnic traditions. Crafts such as horse-tail embroidery, silver jewelry, and ox horn carvings are exquisitely made and uniquely crafted, renowned both at home and abroad. It is widely honored as the “No.1 Village of Chinese Shui Horse-Tail Embroidery.”

Nestled against mountains and beside water, the village features beautiful scenery with lush green hills and clear waters. Major attractions include the Immortal Bridge, Snowflake Cave Waterfall, and Snowflake Cave.

The villagers mainly engage in traditional small-scale farming, using cattle and horses for labor and turning soil with flip spades. Their farming tools are relatively simple and rustic. Agricultural produce includes rice, wheat, rapeseed, corn, and chili peppers.

The Shui people typically live in small clan-based settlements formed around kinship ties. Most villagers share the surname “Wei.” The Shui houses in the village are all tile-and-wood structured “stilt-style” buildings. The ground floor is generally used to house poultry, livestock, and store farming tools, the second floor is for living, and the third floor serves as a granary.

The Shui people usually wear traditional ethnic costumes. Women wrap their heads with white scarves, wear indigo garments with rail patterns and embroidered aprons, and sport embroidered shoes. Men wear buttoned jackets, while elderly people wear black headscarves and long robes.

The Shui diet is primarily vegetarian, with a strong preference for acidic flavors. Dishes such as “Fish Stuffed with Leek” and “Sour Soup Fish” are unique delicacies of the ethnic group.

The main festival in BanGao Village is the “Duān Festival” (equivalent to the Han Chinese Spring Festival, usually held between September and October of the lunar calendar). During the Duān Festival every year, the Shui people hold solemn ancestor worship ceremonies, along with traditional entertainment activities such as bronze drum dances, horse racing on Duān slopes, and fish-fighting contests.

Phone: 0854—3090001