Basha Village

Basha sits on a wooded ridge above Congjiang, a Miao community of a few thousand people whose distinguishing custom is a hairstyle: the head is shaved with a sickle blade leaving a topknot, a rite performed on boys at a set age and kept for life. Men carry muzzle-loading guns, a permitted exception made for this village on grounds of tradition, and fire them in demonstrations. The community keeps a strong tree cult, planting a tree at a birth and using it at the person's death instead of a headstone. Houses are timber on stilts among old trees, with rice drying racks along the paths.

What you actually see

• The sickle shaving - the topknot haircut performed with a blade.
• The hunting guns - muzzle-loaders kept and fired in demonstrations.
• The tree custom - trees planted at birth and used at death.
• The timber village - stilt houses and drying racks among old trees.

When to go

April to October for mild weather; demonstrations of shaving and gun firing run to a daily schedule when visitor numbers justify it. Winter is cold and damp.

Honest expectations

The customs are performed for visitors on a schedule and feel staged. Entry is charged. Photography of residents should be asked for rather than assumed.

Nearby

Congjiang lies below; Zhaoxing is east.