Hills Tribes Abodes

The ganlan wood houses are distributed mainly over the hills and mountains of northern Guangxi, eastern Guizhou and western Hunan. The ganlan is otherwise known as malan. In Zhuang language, ganlan means house or home. The evolution and development of the ganlan spans several thousand years. The ganlans serve as shelter to the Miao, Dong, Zhuang and Yao nationalities, hence are quite different from the typical Han abode known with the boat decorated roofs. These houses are much more similar with traditional houses in the mountainous areas of South East Asia.