The Yunshantun stockade village is among the best-preserved Tunbao Villages, with a 20-meter-high stone city gate. On both sides of the gate are city walls, about 1.5- meter high. The walls were also completely built with stone slates, and steps were built on the walls to facilitate the transport of ammunitions during wartime. The embrasures on the walls, though having experienced many vicissitudes of time, and except for being overgrown with moss, remain visible.

In terms of general array, the primitive Tunbao villages are centered on the dam at the village's center, with crisscross lanes arranged around the center. At the end of each lane there is a gate for defense.

Inside the city gate, a winding stone-slate street leads directly into the village, which is always clean and quiet. Numerous stone houses stand by both sides of the street, and most of them are three-sided courtyards, surrounded by walls and with a gateway in front.

The village people, who are especially hospitable, are likely to invite visitors for a rest and a cup of tea. They are also pious believers of Buddhism or Taoism, and the custom dates back to the time when they first settled down in Guizhou, bringing with them the Buddhism and Taoism from Jiangnan (the south of the Yangtze River). Therefore, Tunbao women would pay homage to the Buddha in every temple around the village yearlong.

Author: Jessie

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