Pancun village is one hour's drive from Liucheng county, which is one hour away from Liuzhou city by long-distance bus and three hours' bus ride from Nanning, capital of the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

Liuzhou and Nanning are accessible from all major cities in China by train and airplane.

The shuttle bus connecting Liuzhou and Liucheng leaves every 10 minutes from 8 am to 6 pm throughout the week. The journey costs 15 yuan (about $2.40).

The long-distance bus connecting Nanning and Liucheng leaves at 10:15 am each day from the Langdong bus station of Nanning, and the cost is 80 yuan ($12.70).

The visa office of Nanning Wuxu airport starts issuing arrival visas from May 6.

Tourist agencies can apply for group tour visas in the airport's visa office for inbound tours.

The road connecting Pancun village and Liucheng is a typical bumpy farm track. You can hire a taxi in Liucheng for the short, pleasant trip. The scenery along the road is quite beautiful. You can see picturesque karst mountains, paddy fields and buffaloes by the dirt track.

It takes about two hours to walk around the old village. It is highly recommended to visit the village during its traditional festival season in late autumn and early winter, when the temperature is about 20 C.

You can base yourself in Liucheng and go to Pancun in the morning and visit Shixie old village or Luoya Mountain scenic area, both one hour's drive away, in the afternoon.

Shixie village, about 800 years old, is also inhabited by the Mulam ethnic group.

Read about the Mulam people and Zhuang people's history and stories before your visit. Food available in the area is various kinds of rice noodles accompanied by pickled bamboo shoots, the main dishes eaten by local people.

China Daily

(China Daily 05/16/2013 page19)