Ānhuà

Ānhuà lies in the Huanjiang country of northern Guangxi, beside the mountainous border with Guizhou. Limestone peaks, caves, waterfalls and enclosed valleys make travel difficult and leave only small pockets of farmland. Maonan villages combined rice farming, maize, timber and handicrafts with local ritual traditions.

Sloping fields and small basins supplied food, while forests provided fuel and building material. Roads carried produce between the county seat, market towns and rural villages. The borderland position linked Guangxi with Guizhou through passes, family ties and periodic markets.

The karst peaks and scattered communities depended on narrow routes and seasonal water rather than a large open plain. Market towns gathered rice, timber and woven goods from scattered villages, and farmers stored grain for winter and exchanged bamboo and timber. Fragmented fields made sharing water essential, while rice terraces, maize fields and bamboo groves supplied mountain households.