Two-and-a-half hours west of Longsheng the bus crosses a high stone bridge over the Rongshui and clatters into the main street at SANJIANG, China , the small, desperately untidy capital of Sanjiang Dong Autonomous County. Sanjiang's main attraction is the neat, indigo-clad Dong themselves, a people renowned for their wooden houses, towers and bridges which dot the countryside hereabouts, and it's well worth roving the region with the help of minibuses and converted tractors known locally as "Dong taxis". There's a scattering of simple hostels and places to eat, and villagers will sometimes offer lodgings and sustenance - characteristically sour hotpots, oil tea (a bitter, salty soup made from fried tea leaves and puffed rice), and homemade rice wine - though it's polite to offer payment in these circumstances. Language can be problematic, as many locals can't speak putonghua, let alone English; people are, however, very friendly.

 

Although most visitors hop straight on a bus to Chengyang, if you need to stay in Sanjiang you'll find cheap accommodation just across from the bus station at the Baihuo Zhaodaisuo (singles up to ¥30; doubles/triples/quads ¥30-75); and at the new Travellers' Guesthouse (tel 0772/8615584; ¥30-75) about 500m out along the Longsheng road. Alternatives include the Chengyang Qiao Binguan (tel 0772/8613071; ¥75-100), 100m from the bus station, whose restaurant is the best in town; or seasonally cold rooms 250m up the hill behind the bus station at the Sanjiang Government Guesthouse (tel 0772/8612454; ¥30-75). For food , try noodle and hotpot stalls around the bridge, or track down slightly more upmarket places surrounding the back street market square down past the Chengyang Qiao Binguan. Back near the bus station, the Wind and Rain Bridge Travel Service (tel 0772/8613369, fax 8612896) is a particularly helpful and conscientious source of information as the manager, Daniel Hou, is fluent in both English and the Dong dialect. They can advise on local transport for travelling right on up to Kaili in Guizhou Province; otherwise give serious thought to their ¥500 full-day tour of just about every important village in the vicinity. There's also a museum of Dong culture in front of the Government Guesthouse; it's open whenever people show up but you'll have to make some noise to rouse the knowledgeable, Chinese-speaking caretaker.

Sanjiang's bus station has daily services to Zhaoxing, Liping and Nanning; several daily for Congjiang, Liuzhou, Longsheng and Guilin; and departures every forty minutes to Chengyang. For Mapang, Bajiang and other smaller destinations, look for minibuses between the bus station and bridge, which leave when full or when chartered.