Nabi Village

Nabi Village is located in Lingxi Town, Yongshun County, Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, 19 kilometers away from the county seat. It’s a Tujia village with a beautiful environment, a long history, profound national culture and prominent regional advantages.

Zhangjiajie-Huayuan Expressway and Provincial Highway 230 pass through the village. Fuzhi Interchange along Zhangjiajie-Huayuan Expressway is situated in the village. The village is close to the Site of Laosicheng Tusi Domain. And it’s 30-minute-drive to Zhangjiajie, Furong Town and the Mengdong River Scenic Area. The village is a typical karst arid area, and it is very difficult to store the surface water. The village is surrounded by mountains. The main peaks are Motian Ridge, Leidabao Mountain, etc. There are many pines, cedars, cypresses and miscellaneous trees on the mountains.

Nabi Village boasts a subtropical humid monsoon climate, with the highest average temperature of the year reaching 25.1 to 27.3 degrees Celsius in July. While the lowest average temperature of the year is 2.5 to 4.8 degrees Celsius in January. Nabi Village is free from the coldness in winter and the heat in summer. It has climate resources suitable for sightseeing and vacation. Nabi Village is rich in water. The Mengdong River and the Lingxi River flow along the village. There are four reservoirs and ponds.

In the village, there are 2 buildings dating back to the Qing Dynasty, 4 residential buildings built in the Republic of China period, 50 buildings constructed from the founding of the People’s Republic of China to 1980, and 8 buildings built after 1980.  

The buildings in this village are mostly wood structures and in a fine state of preservation, with large single building area, exquisite building boards, centralized distribution of houses. Most of the buildings are made of wood structures, featuring stilted buildings and window traceries. 

There are two ponds in the village. One is planted with lotus flowers and the other is used for fish farming. The village houses are built on the hillsides around the ponds. The ponds are surrounded by the Tujia stilted buildings.

It’s a good time to enjoy the village scenery when the lotus flowers are in full bloom every summer. Lotus roots in the ponds can be dug in autumn. They are especially fragrant and tender, once serving as the imperial tribute of the chieftains of previous dynasties. A century-old well is located in the mountain valley, which is full of water all the year round. It’s close to the ponds and farmland, which not only irrigates the soil, but also provides an important guarantee for the water storage of the mountain pond.

Camellia oleifera belongs to the Theaceae family, and is a broadleaved and evergreen shrub. Its seeds can be pressed into tea oil for food. Tea oil is clear in color, fragrant in taste, rich in nutrition and resistant to storage. It’s a high-quality edible oil. It can also be used in industry as lubricating oil and antirust oil. The tea cake is a pesticide and fertilizer, which can improve the water storage capacity of farmland and control pests in rice fields. The peel is the raw material for extracting tannin extract.

The Hand-waving Dance of the Tujia people in Xiangxi integrates songs, dances, music as well as dramas, and expresses the origin, religion, immigration, historic events, life, and customs of the Tujia ethnic group.

It’s popular during the New Year Festival as well as sacrificial and celebratory activities. In the villages where the Tujia people live, there is a “gallery” for the Hand-waving Dance. The Hand-waving Dance is impressive and rough, including single hand waving, double hand waving and whirl hand waving. The dance venue is usually on level ground of the Hand-waving Hall.