Unusual Expedition

Guizhou Blossom Photo Tour – China

Explore guizhou's blossoms, ancient towns, ethnic villages, karst landscapes, and asia's largest waterfall on this 12-day photography tour in china.

Country
China
Departure Dates
24 Mar 2027 To 04 Apr 2027
Tour Code
CHN20270324G1
Tour Leader
Joseph Mak

Room Type And Pricing

  • Single Room: S$4,500
  • Share Room: S$3,950

Tour Itinerary

Day 1 | Singapore | Guiyang

The Guizhou blossom photography tour begins with the direct evening flight from Singapore to Guiyang, the provincial capital and the gateway to every route in this Guizhou itinerary. The group assembles at Changi Airport in the afternoon, flies four and a half hours without a connection, and lands at Guiyang Longdongbao Airport at a quarter past ten. A pre-booked airport hotel a few minutes from the terminal means a short transfer and a full night of sleep before the Guizhou programme starts in the morning. No photography is scheduled today: the flight day exists so that the eleven touring days across Guizhou can begin rested, on time and together.

Day 2 | Guiyang | Yinzhai Village | Zhenyuan

The first touring day runs east from Guiyang to Zhenyuan, around 270 to 300 kilometres through the countryside of central Guizhou. A relaxed start after last night's arrival gives way to Yinzhai Village in late morning light, where village houses sit among the fields and the spring rural landscape of Guiding County opens up. The drive continues to Zhenyuan, a river town wrapped around a bend of the Wuyang, arriving in time to check in before an early dinner. The day closes with the blue hour and night session in Zhenyuan Ancient Town, where bridges, traditional buildings and river reflections make this one of the strongest evening subjects in Guizhou.

Meals: Lunch, Dinner

Day 3 | Zhenyuan | Xijiang

Morning in Zhenyuan is worked on foot: the famous river bend from the bridges, the stepped lanes of the old town, the boat landings and the layered rooflines above the water. The road then crosses into the Miao heartland for Xijiang Qianhu, the largest Miao village in China, where more than a thousand timber houses climb the hillsides on either side of a narrow valley. Afternoon light at Xijiang picks out the stilted structures and the terraces behind them, and after dinner the whole hillside lights up, one of the defining images of any Guizhou photography tour. The group shoots Xijiang from the viewing platform with tripods, working both the wide hillside and tighter clusters of houses.

Meals: Lunch, Dinner

Day 4 | Xijiang | Zhaoxing

Xijiang at first light is a quieter subject than the night view: mist gathers in the valley, cooking smoke rises through the timber roofs and the village wakes without an audience. The drive then runs southeast to Zhaoxing, one of the largest Dong settlements in Guizhou, a village of five clans each with its own drum tower. The Dong build in timber without nails, and the drum towers and covered wind and rain bridges of Zhaoxing are the finest vernacular architecture on this Guizhou blossom photography tour. The group arrives in Zhaoxing with time for an evening session, then stays out after dark when the towers are lit and the lanes empty of day visitors.

Meals: Lunch, Dinner

Day 5 | Zhaoxing

A full day in and around Zhaoxing, which is the point at which most photographers stop shooting landmarks and start shooting village life. We begin with the drum towers in morning mist, then climb to Tang An, a hillside Dong village looking out over rice terraces that hold water like a staircase of mirrors in spring. The afternoon returns to Zhaoxing for the lanes: timber joinery, embroidery on a doorstep, ducks on the stream, elders on the bridge benches. We close with golden hour over the surrounding fields. Having a second night here is what turns a Guizhou photography tour from a drive past into something closer to a proper visit.

Meals: Lunch, Dinner

Day 6 | Zhaoxing | Basha | Libo

The group leaves Zhaoxing early for Basha, a Miao village near Congjiang known for keeping customs that disappeared elsewhere: men still carry a hunting gun and wear their hair in a topknot shaved with a sickle. The visit is timed for the morning performance at Basha, staying on afterwards for portraits, timber houses, grain stores and village life without the stage. Basha is one of the strongest cultural sessions on the Guizhou blossom photography tour, and the frames tend to be tight and character led rather than scenic. After lunch in Congjiang the road runs west to Libo, crossing from Dong and Miao country into the karst.

Meals: Lunch, Dinner

Day 7 | Libo | Xiaoqikong

A full day at Xiaoqikong, the small seven arch scenic area, and one of the most photogenic karst landscapes in southern China. A single valley holds turquoise pools, forest cascades, travertine steps and a slender stone bridge built in the Qing dynasty, all linked by walkways so you can work steadily rather than hike hard. Bring a tripod, a polariser and a neutral density filter: the water here is made for long exposures, and the mixed forest light rewards patience. We shoot the bridge and the upper pools in the morning, break for lunch inside the park, and spend the afternoon on the cascades, which is the part of the Guizhou photography most people come home wanting to reprint.

Meals: Lunch, Dinner

Day 8 | Libo | Xingyi / Wanfenglin

A long positioning day west across southern Guizhou, from Libo to Xingyi and the karst peak forest of Wanfenglin. The route follows the G78 expressway for around 541 kilometres, roughly six and a half hours of driving, broken by lunch in Anlong where sliced rice noodles are the local speciality. Arrival in Xingyi is mid afternoon, leaving time to check in and rest before the first session over Wanfenglin. If the light holds the group takes a short sunset among the conical hills that make Wanfenglin one of the three great peak forests of China. Xingyi is the base for the next two nights, with the full Wanfenglin programme following the next morning.

Meals: Lunch, Dinner

Day 9 | Wanfenglin | Malinghe | Fenglin Buyi

A full day around Xingyi with no positioning drive, built on the karst peak forest of Wanfenglin. The morning begins with sunrise over the peaks, when mist gathers between the conical hills and the farmland patterns of the valley floor catch the first light. Malinghe Gorge follows, its canyon walls and waterfalls seen from the walkways cut into the cliff. The afternoon takes in the Buyi cultural landscapes at Fenglin Buyi before returning to Wanfenglin for golden hour. Around 80 to 120 kilometres of local driving today, so the day is paced by the light rather than the road, which makes Wanfenglin the most photographically productive stop on the route.

Meals: Lunch, Dinner

Day 10 | Wanfenglin | Huangguoshu

A final sunrise over Wanfenglin before the short transfer north east to Huangguoshu, around 245 kilometres and three and a half hours with buffer. Leaving Wanfenglin after the morning light means the group keeps the best of the peak forest and still reaches Huangguoshu in good time to check in and rest. The late afternoon is given to a scouting session around the falls, walking the approaches and viewpoints so that the main waterfall shoot the following morning can begin without hesitation. Huangguoshu is the largest waterfall in Asia and the crowds build quickly, so knowing the ground the evening before is worth more here than at any other stop.

Meals: Lunch, Dinner

Day 11 | Huangguoshu | Gui'an Cherry Blossom | Baili Dujuan

The main waterfall shoot at Huangguoshu opens the day, working the falls and the key viewpoints before the crowds arrive. The drive north then breaks at the Gui'an cherry blossom garden at Gaofeng, some twelve thousand mu of cherry trees on the slopes above Hongfeng Lake, where the late blooming varieties carry heavier, fuller flowers than the early whites and hold into the first days of April. From the cherry garden it is around 177 kilometres on to Baili Dujuan, arriving in the Bijie area in the late afternoon. Two blossom subjects in a single day, the cherry at Gui'an and the rhododendron waiting at Baili Dujuan the next morning.

Meals: Lunch, Dinner

Day 12 | Baili Dujuan | Guiyang Airport | Singapore

Baili Dujuan means a hundred li of rhododendron, and in early April the slopes carry blocks of red, pink and white across the ridgelines. The last morning of the tour is given entirely to the flower sea, working wide layered landscapes with mist between the hills, mid range compositions where a path or a stone wall runs through the flowers, and close detail of the blooms themselves. A longer lens is worth carrying for compressing the ridges of Baili Dujuan. A farewell lunch near the scenic area closes the ground programme, and the afternoon is an unhurried drive back across Guizhou to Guiyang Longdongbao Airport for the evening flight, with a memory card full of villages, waterfalls, karst peaks and flowers.

Meals: Lunch

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