Guizhou Province boasts its rich tourist resources with its appealing picturesque landscapes, primeval vegetation and diverse ethnic cultures. The fantastic karst natural scenery is characterized by amazing mountains, waters, and caves. Guizhou is home to 49 out of 56 ethnic groups in China, of whom 17 are indigenous, including Han, and other ethnic groups such as Miao, Dong, Buyi, Ge, Hui, Yao, and Shui inhabiting on this piece of land. Their customs and life styles are simple and elegant. These make up the unique natural scenery and the sight of human culture of the province as well.

Guizhou's landscape can be grossly called the Guizhou Plateau and has relatively a high altitude, with an average elevation of more than 1,000 metres, and widely distributed with karst formation landscape. Most of the province belongs to subtropical and humid monsoon climate. Weather is mild neither cold in winter nor hot in summer.

Guizhou Province has some of the best tourism resources in China, or even in the world, earning it the name "Oriental Switzerland." More than 90 per cent of the province is covered by mountains, of which two-thirds are karst landscape, featuring waterfalls, caves, and canyons. The Huangguoshu Falls, located 140 kilometres southwest of Guiyang, has become a symbol of Guizhou. The scenic area consists of a dozen waterfalls, the tallest is 74 metres, and a number of huge water caves and ethnic villages of the Buyi and Miaos. Some virgin forests and ancient plant species, including some from the Jurassic (of, belonging to, or designating the time and deposits of the second period of the Mesowic era, characterized by the existence of dinosaurs and the appearance of primitive mammals and birds) Age, have survived in this underdeveloped corner of China. It was also the place where the Red Army took a decisive turn from defeat to victory during its 12,500- kilometre Long March from 1934 to 1935. The five out of the 12 months of voyages took place in the province, where Mao Zedong (founder of the new China in 1949) rose to the top position of the Communist Party of China.

Industrial sectors include mmmg, metallurgy, electric power, petrochemical, food, and cigarettes. There are 110 minerals found in the province. The reserves of mercury,mphosphor, barite , aluminum , and manganese top the other provinces in China. The mountainous forestry is one of China's important timber plantation wnes. Beside, other economic forest products are also available such as raw lacquer, tung oil, gallnut and fungus. The western province has long been called "sea of coal," and its hydraulic resources are abundant.

Maotai, which is brewed in the province, is the first of China's distilled wines. The brand won its reputation worldwide in 1915 at a Panama Exposition. And ever since, Maotai has been listed together with Scotish Whiskey, French Cognac Brand and Russian Vodka at a Panama Expo. The company achieved exports of US $14 million in 2002.

Of hundreds of thousands of mountains in Guizhou Province, Mount Wuling , Mount Wumeng , Mount Daloushan l, and Mount Miaoling are the most famous. The amazing Huanggoushu Waterfalls. Famous Zunyi City and other colourful folk customs make tourists' trip more rewarding and wonderful.

With a mild and humid climate, the province is home to 1,000 animals and 3,800 plants in the wild. It has ancient ferns that were around during the time of the dinosaurs , and it houses the last tribe of 650 Guizhou Golden Monkeys that are more precious than the giant pandas. Agriculture, green food, pharmaceutical production with natural plants as raw materials, tourism and power generation will become pillar industries.

In Guizhou, state-level scenic spots have reached 18, accounting for 6.7 per cent of China's 177 state-level scenic spots.

Guizhou is speeding up its development for tourism. Traffic and transportation have been greatly improved. Hotel facilities have been increased and updated.

The March 3 rd Festival

The March 3rd Festival to commemorate the harvest is celebrated by the Buyi people. Originally, it is a ritual in which people cast cooked corn on the ground to worship the harvest god. Today, it has developed into a grand gala of singing. On March 3 according to lunar calendar, the Buyi people in Guiyang and neighbouring counties flock to Xinpu Township, Wudang District. In the forests or by the streams, they sing songs to the accompanment of a simple instrument made of leaves.

The Luding Bridge

A section of the iron chains from the Dadu River deserves particular attention. The hard-won victory over the Luding Bridge has already become a household story in China. The bridge was a structure of twelve heavy chains, which supported wooden planks. It stretched between two mountains over a chasm thousands of feet deep through which the Dadu River rushed in a white-foam torrent. When the reached this precarious bridge, the Red Army found that the boards had been removed-only the thirteen iron chains swayed in the wind over the gorge, of which nine iron chains are juxtaposed and the other four are used as handrails on both sides. The net span of the bridge is 100 metres; the net width of the bridge being 2.8 metres, and the surface of the bridge is 14.5 metres during dry season. The bridge was built between 1705 and 1706 during the Qing Dynasty. Furthermore, on the opposite side, in the village of Luding, enemy forces covered the bridge approaches with gunfire. Under cover of the massed fire of their comrades, twenty-two men, led by a company commander named Liao, made their way hand-over-hand across the iron chains, in the teeth of heavy enemy fire. Each man carried a Tommy gun, a broad sword, and twelve hand grenades, which they used as best they could while trying to hang on the chains. Behind them came another company of troops who laid new planks on the bridge. When the first group reached the far side, a great wall of fire arose at the bridgehead: the enemy was trying to burn the chain supports. The assault squad hesitated only for a moment and then plunged into the fire to fight their way into the village of Luding. Other forces soon followed them and at last both bridge and village were secured. Many were hit, others died hanging onto the bridge and the merciless Dadu River swallowed up even more. The assault squad was ever afterward to become legendary as the Twenty- Two Heroes of Dadu. The main army was now free to make its way to the northwest. The bridge is listed as one of national key relics to be preserved by the Chinese Government.

Even today, people take off their hats or bow when arriving at the river.

They are saluting a group of people who displayed human bravery at the highest level. Today's generation have difficulties understanding what kind of strength it took to accomplish such heroic deeds. Harrison E Salisbury in his "The Untold Story- Long March" found the answer. It was the just cause of liberation all those people from poverty and oppression that spurred the Red Army's spirit. The courtyard museum emits a sense of tranquility, but the history it reveals is a mix of heroism and tragedy, strategy and miscalculation, loyalty and treachery, destruction and creation.

Zhijin Caves

Located about 150 kilometres west of Guiyang, the capital of Guizhou Province, the Zhijin Caves are also known as the Daji Caves. With a total area of 700,000 square metres, the series of underground caverns stretch nearly 13 kilometres through the plateau rising about 1,300 metres above sea level. At present, 47 caves and halls have been divided into 12 scenic areas opened to the public.