A National Geographic article says that private gun ownership is banned in China, except in this village. Actually, if you read the fine print, it says ethnic minorities get cut slack. This village is home to Miao tribespeople.
That explains how I saw a civilian walking along a paddy dike near Guilin carrying a rifle (or perhaps shotgun). I had thought, as the article says, that Chinese civilians couldn't own firearms. This would have particularly been true in 1986 when I made the sighting.
However the Guilin area is home to a substantial number of Miao, according to Wikipedia, and I suppose I saw one of them. That sighting has puzzled me for over two decades.
