Heaven on the Earth-Yuanyang Hani Rice Terraces

I’m a photographer, So I don’t want to miss the Yuanyang Rice Terraces. I made a tour to the terraced rice fields last week, and it  went beyond my expectations. The stunning scenery and unique culture of the Hani people is definitely worth discovering.

Yuanyang Rice Terraces are the Hani ethnic minority’s masterpiece of ingenuity. In unique shapes and sizes with thousands of years of history, they form a mosaic of colorful and breathtaking landscapes of natural beauty.Known as a “land sculpture”, the terraced fields have been officially acknowledged by UNESCO as a World Cultural and Natural Heritage Site. There are three popular scenic areas: Duoyishu, Bada, and Laohuzui.

Up from the fantastic Hani Rice Terraces, in the mountains above Yuanyang, the water flowing down to irrigate the fields looks crystal clear, and the air is incredible clean, strolling on the& stairway to heaven, you can drink in to your heart’s content the full beauty of this natural scenery!

Yuanyang County was once crowned as one of the China’s 17 most attractive scenic places. It’s 326 km south of Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province. Although few general tourists have visited the Yuanyang rice terraces, many photographers have because of the thrilling beauty of the landscape.

 The water from the rain and from mountain springs flow down to the rice terraces and the whole cycle repeats itself perpetually.  During the winter to early spring season, the entire field is irrigated with spring water from the forest above to rejuvenate and prepare for the next growing season. There is only one harvest per year for the Yuanyang Rice Terrace; planting occurs from March to October/November every year.

If you get a chance to Yuanyang Rice Terrace, the sunrise scenery of Duoyishu must be not to miss. Duoyishu scenic area is the most beautiful natural and cultural landscape of Yuanyang Rice Terraces. In

clouding Duoyishu, Aichun and Dawazhe, this rice terraces are more than 1647.4 acres. Therefore, the sunrise makes this area a wonderful sightseeing. However, if you want to see the sunrise scenery at Duoyishu, you’d better to get the temperature information in advance.

Apart from the sunrise sights of Yuanyang Rice Terraces, you may wonder where is the best place to get the sunset scenery? Bada—the best place to get the sunset scenery of Yuanyang Rice Terraces and also is largest attraction in terms of

acreage of Yuanyang Rice Terraces. The Bada terraces at sunset are truly amazing and the incessantly changing colors will make you feel that you are in a magical kingdom.In Yuanyang Rice Terraces, one of the interesting things is to explore the Hani people’s culture, experience their local life, visit their mushroom-like houses, and watching their folk dancing performance.