Miao Wangcheng, 25 kilometres northeast of Tongren, is the largest surviving tusi complex in Guizhou — a fortified compound of over four square kilometres that served as the administrative centre of the She Miao chieftainship for centuries. The walls are built from dressed stone in the style of Han Chinese defensive architecture, enclosing a grid of courtyards, halls, and residences that followed a plan modelled on a Chinese county seat.
The site is largely unrestored, which means it's also largely uncrowded. The walls are intact in most sections and walkable. Inside, the hall foundations are visible in the undergrowth, and the scale of the complex — larger than most towns in the region — gives a clear sense of the power and ambition of the chiefs who built it. The contrast between the scale of the ruins and their near-complete absence from tourist itineraries is one of those situations that rewards the traveller who looks up from the standard route.