Cultural centre · Guizhou
Kaili
凯里
Gateway to the Miao and Dong villages of south-east Guizhou
Kaili is a county-level city in eastern Guizhou and the capital of the Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture. It is the starting point for visiting the Miao villages of the Leigong Mountains, such as Xijiang, and the Dong villages further south, and it hosts some of the largest Miao festivals in China.
Key facts
Overview
Kaili lies on the Qingshui River basin at the edge of the Miaoling Mountains. The city itself is modern, but it administers — as the seat of Qiandongnan prefecture — a region with the largest concentration of Miao and Dong people in China, where wooden villages of stilt houses, rice terraces, drum towers and covered bridges survive in large numbers.
The prefecture's calendar of festivals, its silverwork, embroidery and batik, and its sour-soup cooking make Kaili the centre of minority culture in Guizhou.
Names and nicknames
黔东南
“south-east Guizhou”
The name of the autonomous prefecture, often used for the whole cultural region that Kaili administers.
History
The Miao lands of south-eastern Guizhou remained outside regular imperial administration longer than most of the province; the Qing brought them under direct rule in the 1720s and 1730s, provoking the uprising of 1735–1736. A larger Miao rebellion under Zhang Xiumei followed between 1855 and 1872. Kaili, then a small market town, grew after the railway from Hunan arrived in the 1970s, and became a county-level city in 1983.
1720s–1730s
Qing campaigns in the Miao territory
The Yongzheng court opened the region to direct administration, founding new garrison towns along the Qingshui River.
1855–1872
Zhang Xiumei uprising
A long Miao rebellion based in Taijiang and the Leigong Mountains, suppressed with great loss of life.
1983
Kaili becomes a city
The county was converted into a county-level city.
2009
Dong grand song on the UNESCO list
The polyphonic singing of the Dong villages of Qiandongnan and neighbouring areas was inscribed on the Representative List.
Landmarks
Museum
Qiandongnan Museum of Ethnic Minorities
黔东南州民族博物馆
Collections of Miao and Dong costume, silver, textiles and musical instruments.
Historic site
Xijiang Miao Village
西江千户苗寨
The largest Miao village, a thousand-odd wooden houses on two hills in Leishan county.
Historic site
Langde Upper Village
郎德上寨
Small Miao village with cobbled lanes and a dance ground, protected as a national monument.
Historic site
Zhaoxing Dong Village
肇兴侗寨
One of the largest Dong villages, in Liping county, with five drum towers and several wind-and-rain bridges.
Neighbourhoods
Leishan
雷山
County of the Leigong Mountains, with Xijiang and many smaller Miao villages.
Taijiang
台江
Miao county known for its embroidery and the Sisters' Meal Festival.
Liping, Congjiang and Rongjiang
黎平·从江·榕江
The Dong heartland in the south of the prefecture.
Food
Sour soup fish
酸汤鱼
The signature dish of Kaili: fish in a red sour soup of fermented tomatoes, chilli and herbs.
Niubie hotpot
牛瘪火锅
Bitter hotpot made with the partly digested contents of a cow's stomach, a Miao and Dong speciality.
Sticky rice
糯米饭
Glutinous rice, sometimes dyed with plants, eaten at festivals and carried to the fields.
Culture
The region's festivals follow the agricultural and lunar calendars: the Miao New Year after the harvest, the Sisters' Meal Festival in spring, lusheng gatherings with dancing and bullfights, and the Dong village exchanges of grand songs. Miao women's festival dress of embroidered jackets and horned silver headdresses varies from village to village, and batik, paper-making and silver-smithing are practised as village crafts.
Getting around
- Kaili South station is on the Shanghai–Kunming high-speed line; the older Kaili station is on the Hunan–Guizhou railway.
- Buses and hired cars link Kaili with Xijiang, Langde, Taijiang and the Dong counties; Congjiang station on the Guiyang–Guangzhou high-speed line is closer to the southern Dong villages.
- Kaili Huangping Airport lies to the north of the city.
Day trips
Zhenyuan
镇远古城
Old river town on the Wuyang River with a cliffside temple complex, the Qinglong Cave.
Shibing Yuntai Mountain
施秉云台山
Dolomite karst gorges and forests, part of the South China Karst World Heritage site since 2014.
Jiabang rice terraces
加榜梯田
Terraced hillsides in Congjiang county, flooded in spring and golden before the harvest.
Frequently asked questions
Sources
- Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture People's Government — Qiandongnan Prefecture People's Government (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Intangible Cultural Heritage: China — UNESCO (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Guizhou — Encyclopaedia Britannica (retrieved 27 September 2026)
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