Píngbà

Píngbà lies on the Guizhou plateau west of Guiyang, where a broad basin breaks the surrounding hills. The Ming established Píngbà Guard here in 1390 as part of the military network securing the route into the southwest. Soldiers and their families cultivated land around fortified settlements, combining garrison duties with farming. Their descendants preserved distinctive Tunpu communities, whose fortified villages and traditions recall the long association between military settlement and the cultivation of the plateau.