Chengyang’s Drum Tower village lies at the center of Dong community life, serving as a gathering place for meetings, ceremonies, and everyday exchange. When this photograph was made in 1987, the village remained largely untouched by modern development.

The wooden architecture, built without nails, reflects generations of craftsmanship and communal labor, while the surrounding rice terraces connect the community directly to the land that sustains it. At the time, Chengyang was little known beyond the region, and daily life followed rhythms that had endured for centuries.