A long day's journey into Liannan Yao Autonomous County

Eclipsed by the neon blaze of Guangzhou and lost in the lovely limestone peaks of northern Guangdong is the 1,000-year-old Qiannian Yaozhai, the oldest Yao minority village in China. 
Over 7,000 Yao people once occupied the mountain community but harsh poverty has dramatically thinned the population, leaving Qiannian Yaozhai in its perfectly preserved state. Here's what to do when you get there:

6am:   Rise and shine in Liannan County for a long day of exploring bucolic North Guangdong. Unlike steel-and-glass PRD, the north is a poem-inspiring swath of farmland and karst summits.
7am:    Ask the locals for directions, but expect each person to point in a different direction. Them's the brakes.
8am:  Well-informed bengbeng taxi drivers will take you about 20-25kms southwest up a lush green mountainside to "Nangang Thousand Year Yao Zu Village." Crowning the 800m crest you will see your destination: the mystical Qiannian Yaozhai.
12 noon: Visit this living museum. The only sounds to be heard are the quiet whispering winds and an occasional farmer's hoe against the soil. Stop and survey the beautiful landscape. Clustering the hills are 400 stone-and-slate homes, each unscathed since the Song Dynasty.
1pm:  Gaze in awe at the locals. Tilling the terraces are barefooted, red-turbaned Yao farmers, regally draped in dark blue robes and scarlet sashes. True ancestors of an ancient agrarian society, they are the last generation of Qiannian Yaozhai.
2pm: Take green tea in the home of the yaowang village chief of the Pai Yao clan. These simple dwelling places are warmed by a wood-burning stove and accentuated with hand-wrought farming tools. Take your time and chit-chat about their rural lifestyles and earthy values. It will open your urban eyes.
4pm:  Capitalize on the fresh clean air with a long stroll down the mountain, peeking into other nearby villages and stopping to hobnob with the locals.
5pm:  Spot the women with satchels that glow like a rainbow, the Pai Yao's signature accessory.  Females will spend up to three months hand-embroidering their own bags, each one boasting unique designs and images.
7pm:  Time for a hearty dinner down at the riverfront restaurant. Fresh caoyu grass carp and locally-grown greens will fill up your belly, then retire to your luguan boardinghouse for some much-need kip.
12am: Fat chance. Get awoken by a riotous KTV parlor screaming out Canto-pop next door.  No matter how far you stray from the big cities, in China some things always remain the same.

How to get there: 
Qiannian yaozhai is well off the beaten path. From Guangzhou City bus terminal, catch the bus to Liannan County. From Liannan, hire a taxi to Qiannian yaozhai (20 RMB, about 30 minutes).

Where to stay:
Liannan's main (and only) street is?comprised of KTV haunts and several guesthouses (20 RMB per bed) plus one three-star hotel (100 RMB).