Diaojiao buildings, are the main residential architecture of China’s Miao minority.

Each building represents the unique cultural connotations of the minority.

These wooden structures don’t require the use of nails.

All of the craftsmanship is achieved by hand, and it can claim the essence of wisdom of architectural history.   

In the Xijiang Miao Village, located in the southwest of China’s Guizhou Province, more than 1,200 Miao households of the special wooden Diaojiao building have been built down the mountainside.

The village has a history of more than 2,000 years, and is the largest and most typical of the Miao ethnicity’s communities.  

The Xijiang Miao Village Diaojiao buildings are built either on the level ground or on the slope.

The wooden buildings do not use a single nail or rivet. The first floor is for general storage or livestock and poultry.

The second floor is the family’s living quarters. The third floor is for the storage of grains, vegetables, and other foodstuffs.

In 2006, the Xijiang Miao Village Diaojiao building craft was listed on the representative list of the national intangible cultural heritage as the first group.