The Bagua fields
Rings round a sinkhole.
名字长的让人受不了 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Antigng — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Antigng — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Brookqi — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Philippe Semanaz from Paris, France — CC BY-SA 2.0 · JtWang — CC BY-SA 3.0
A green plain from which thousands of cone-shaped limestone peaks rise close together like trees in a forest, one of the finest karst landscapes of south-western China; the Ming-dynasty traveller Xu Xiake wrote that the world has many mountains, but only here do the peaks grow into a forest. It became a national geopark in 2004 and has been rated 5A since 2024. Between the peaks lie rice paddies and rapeseed fields that turn yellow in late winter, a small river, and villages of the Buyei people with their traditional houses; among its best-known sights are the «Bagua fields», farmed in rings around a wide sinkhole that formed when the roof of an underground river collapsed. A new culture village has a street of crafts such as batik, embroidery and bamboo weaving. Tickets cost CNY 70 from March to November and 60 in winter, the guided sightseeing bus of about two hours costs 50, and city bus 19 reaches it from Xingyi in about forty minutes, per visitor guides.
Rings round a sinkhole.
Traditional houses.
Yellow in late winter.
South-east of Xingyi city, Qianxinan Prefecture, Guizhou
February to March, when yellow rapeseed blooms between the peaks, and September to October, when the rice ripens; summer is green but rainy.
Xingyi has lamb-noodle restaurants run by Hui Muslims under the halal sign, while village kitchens use pork, so ask about ingredients.