The Fengyu Bridge in Chengyang Eight Villages brings blessings and happiness. "Sitting with the girls" lets you romance beautiful Dong women.

▲ Sanjiang Dong Autonomous County is picturesque like a poem. (Photo / Reporter Huang Weijia)

Reporter Huang Weijia / Reporting from Guangxi

"Guilin’s scenery is the best under heaven, but the Dong ethnic charm is found in Sanjiang." Sanjiang Dong Autonomous County is located in northern Guangxi, bordering Hunan and Guizhou provinces, covering a total area of 2,454 square kilometers. It is home to ethnic groups including the Dong, Miao, Yao, Zhuang, and Han, with a population of about 380,000, of which the Dong people account for 57%. In Sanjiang, wooden stilt-style architecture can be seen everywhere, with over 120 of the most distinctive Dong-style Fengyu Bridges and more than 200 drum towers, earning it the title "Hometown of Bridges and Towers in the World."

Fengyu Bridges, also known as Flower Bridges or Blessing Bridges, are composed of massive stone piers, wooden bridge structures, long corridors, and pavilions, using not a single iron nail. Instead, holes are drilled into the pillars and joined with mortise and tenon joints. The bridge decks are lined with railings and benches for resting, and the roofs are covered with sturdy tiles, forming a covered walkway. Built over streams, these bridges not only provide convenient transportation and shelter from wind and rain but are also used by locals for soul-calling rituals and praying for sick children. Newlyweds walking hand-in-hand from one end of the bridge to the other symbolizes enduring love after weathering life’s "storms."

▲ The world’s longest and largest Sanjiang Fengyu Bridge spans the Xun River, combining a crescent-shaped single arch with distinctive Dong architectural features. (Photo / Reporter Huang Weijia)

▲ The Sanjiang Fengyu Bridge was built by renowned Dong carpenter Yang Siyu and seven wooden construction teams totaling over 150 people. (Photo / Reporter Huang Weijia)

▲ The Sanjiang Fengyu Bridge is 398 meters long, featuring 284 bridge corridors and seven tower pavilions, each uniquely shaped—some four-sided, others six or eight-sided. (Photo / Reporter Huang Weijia)

Drum towers are the tallest structures in Dong villages, situated at their centers and still serving as venues for rituals, meetings, gatherings, welcoming guests, and celebrations. In the past, animal-hide drums hung from the beams, not for entertainment but to summon villagers during emergencies when the "village head" (leader) would beat the drum from atop the tower. Additionally, in case of village fires, the drums were used to call for help from neighboring communities. The "No. 1 Drum Tower of the Dong Region," the Sanjiang Drum Tower, is located by the Xun River and was jointly constructed by Yang Siyu and others in November 2002 without blueprints. All materials were calculated mentally by Dong craftsmen. The tower stands 42.6 meters tall and covers an area of 600 square meters.

▲ The tower has 60 pillars standing on the ground. Excluding the top two floors, 25 layers of tiles are evenly spaced across the structure, forming a pyramid shape. (Photo / Reporter Huang Weijia)

Chengyang Eight Villages, known as the "Land of a Hundred Festivals," is 19 kilometers from Sanjiang County town and consists of eight contiguous Dong mountain villages: Ma’an, Pingzhai, Yanzhai, Pingtan, Dongzhai, Chengyang Dazhai, Pingpu, and Jichang, home to nearly 10,000 Dong people. The villages boast 2,000 stilted houses, eight drum towers, and five Fengyu Bridges. This vast expanse of traditional Dong settlements is surrounded by lush green mountains and trees, offering a serene environment where visitors can easily forget their worries—perfect for urban dwellers seeking stress relief. During Chinese New Year, every village is filled with joy and liveliness.

▲ The festive lanterns glow brightly in the center of the village. (Photo / Reporter Huang Weijia)