- You did not (and are not planning) to go to the ‘avatar-looking’ natural park of Zhangjiajie (张家界) also located in this part of Hunan known in Chinese as Xiangxi (湘西).
- You decided to skip the über-commercial town of Fenghuang (凤凰) and any other ethnic village in Hunan and even China.
The reality of Dehang
Some people think that if fairies existed, they would live in Dehang. Unfortunately, development of mass-tourism and commodification of local ethnic groups’ customs are taking their toll on this small Miao village of western Hunan province in southwest China.
There is a 100 RMB entrance fee to enter the village which lower part has been transformed into a small open-air where locals sell trinkets and other industrially “hand-made” stuff. So, if fairies did exist one day in Dehang, they have been replaced by money-hungry dwarfs.
The daily performances that take place in a round wooden arena at then entrance of the village are somehow interesting, but, and this is my personal opinion, they represent a commodification of ethnic groups customs. I admit, it’s great to see Miao women and men in traditional dress performing in front of an audience, but their songs and dances appeared out of context.
