6.09 km
2
, with 2,439 mu of cultivated land, comprising 2,054 mu of rice paddies and 385 mu of dry fields. The main industry is agriculture. Products include rice, wrinkled-skin peppers and Tingpai pickled
vegetables. There is one elementary school covering grades one to six. School attendance is 100. Xinyang village is orderly and well-kept with sturdy buildings. The rich woodlands and green slopes
provide a potential base for the villagers to improve their livelihoods.
2.3.6 Dujiang DJ Zenlei village, Dujiang township
Zenlei administrative village in Dujiang township, Sandu county, comprises four natural villages: upper, mid, lower and Paizhang
排 长
, and covers an area of 0.52 km
2
. According to local oral histories, the Sui ancestors migrated to Zenlei during the reign of Kangxi in the Qing dynasty.
9
There are now 221 households in Zenlei with a total population of 1,017. 65 of the population are Sui minority. 35 are
Miao minority. The Sui, Miao and Chinese languages are all used in everyday life. The Sui people of Zenlei can speak Miao, and the Miao people can speak Sui. Although both ethnic groups live in the same
area and environment, each group has preserved its own culture and customs. The old buildings making up Zenlei are situated halfway up the mountain slopes, opposite the impressive buildings of Dujiang Old
Town on the facing mountain. Below Zenlei are terraced rice paddies. Around it are ancient trees and bamboo woods. Mountains, woodland, rice terraces and the green tiles of the traditional minority houses
set off against each other, merging into a glorious whole. There are over 200 houses, most of which are traditional wooden-framed structures. Fourteen houses are over 100 years old. In total there are 186
traditional-style houses and 110 granaries.
For centuries, the Sui and Miao have lived together harmoniously in Zenlei village, providing a model of ethnic unity and harmony between people and nature. The antique buildings are a microcosm
of Sui culture and constitute an important heritage for researching traditional Sui culture and architecture. In June 2002, Zenlei village was the first to be officially designated as a “Representative
Minority Culture Village” by the Guizhou Provincial People’s Government.
2.3.7 Banliang BL Banliang village, Tangzhou district
Banliang village is located 10 km south of the Tangzhou district government, 2 km from the main road. It has an elevation of 790m and its climate is warm and humid. The total area of the village is 1.7 km
2
. The administrative village office is in Banliang. It oversees ten village groups comprising 271
households. It has a total population of 1,127 people all are agricultural, of which 92.3 are Sui minority, 6.7 are Miao minority, and 1 belong to other minorities. There are 451 people of
employable age. Of these, only ten have graduated from senior high school, 110 have completed junior high school, and 149 have completed only elementary school. There are 835 mu of cultivated land,
averaging 0.92 mu per person, of which 0.33 mu is rice paddy. The main natural resource is mountain woodland, with an average of 1.45 mu per person. Wild grasslands occupy 2,284.7 mu, of which 611.9
mu is cultivatable.
2.3.8 Jiaoli JL Gaorong village, Jiaoli district
Gaorong administrative village is situated in the north of Jiaoli district, Sandu Autonomous Sui County. It is 21 km from the county seat and 6 km from Jiaoli district government. It borders Yangdong village
阳东村 to the east, Qianjin village
前进村 to the south, Gaopai village
高排村 Danzhai county to
the west, and Gaozhai village 高寨村
Danzhai county to the north. Jiaoli district is a distinctively Miao district. Over 80 of the population is Miao ethnicity and most people in Jiaoli speak Miao.
Gaorong is a Sui village in a Miao district. It oversees eight village groups and has a total population of
9
The Kangxi emperor reigned from 1661 to 1722.
1,376, comprising 203 households. There are 421 mu of cultivated land, 562 mu of mountain forest, and there is a narrow, unpaved road leading to the village from the district government.
Gaorong village is one of the poorer villages in Sandu county. The climate is warm with a long summer and a short winter. The winter is not too cold and the summer is not too hot. The Sui people
here are hard-working and brave, kind and simple-minded, and can endure hardship and suffering. The village is in a basin with high mountains on both sides. The arable land is in the valley, whilst the
mountain slopes are wooded. Further up the mountainside is thick forest belonging to Danzhai county. At the foot of the village is a small river which flows all year round. The source of the river is a cave
near a mercury mine. Gaorong is in a Miao region and the villagers have taken on some of the customs of the Miao. However, they preserve the vast majority of traditional Sui customs. From ancient times
until now, all village activities are arranged according to auspicious days in Lee Sui books. Some Sui shamans even go to the surrounding Miao villages to provide auspicious services according to the Lee Sui
books.
2.3.9 Jiuqian JQ Guchang village, Jiuqian township
