Much like Fenghuang (凤凰), the Miao village of Dehang (德夯) seemed to be this must-go place half-way between heaven and earth. After ten years of living in China, I usually prefer to stay away from touristy places, but some places sound too good to skip. In the same time, going to crowded popular tourist sites put the more remote, off-the-beaten path places in a new perspective.
Dehang, a small village of western Hunan (湘西), 30 minutes from Jishou (吉首) by bus, made it to the list of China’s traditional villages (中国传统村落推荐名单) worthy of visiting. In addition, descriptions I read of Dehang contributed to put it on my list. I realised that what I read about this village was too good to be true. In fact, Dehang is one of the most expensive villages in southwest China.
Here is my review of what you get for this price.
Finding (good) reasons to go
I cam to the conclusion that there are two main reasons to visit Dehang:
