Mentioning Yuanyang, it always reminds people of the terraced fields. The Hani and Yi, the creators of the monumental rice terraced mountains which have made Yuanyang famous, are the original inhabitants of these regions. Their villages can mainly be found between 1300 to 1600 metres above sea level.
Because Yuanyang County was situated at the deep Mt. Ailao, the local people had to bring more land under cultivation constantly for making a living. Gradually, today’s beautiful scenery of Terraced Fields was formed.
They bring these mountain slopes under cultivation according to the mountain's shape and location. The large scale Hani terraced fields of covers several counties in Yunnan that includes Honghe, Yuanyang, Lvchun and Jinping County. Although reclamation technology had been spread all over China and South-East Asia since the 14th century, still, you can hardly find Terraced Fields in other places could be compared with those in Yuanyang, no matter from the point of the scale or aesthetic perception.
The number of steps in the Yuanyang terraced fields can reach up to 3,000. The terraced areas of interest to visitors are mainly found between 1000 and 2000 metres above sea level. The winter temperatures here, although never freezing, are such that they only support one rice crop a year. After the harvest, from mid-September till mid-November depending on the elevation, the terraces are filled with water until April, when planting begins.
There are three major scenic spots in Yuanyang County: Bada Scenic Spot, Laohuzui Scenic Spot and Duoyishu Scenic Spot. The Yuanyang terrance field is more than just a farmland, it looks so spectacular, you will be amazed by it's grandness. Part of the area now forms the 45th World Heritage Site in China.
If you reach Yuanyang in February or March and travel along the road from the county town, you can see the flat terraced fields spread layer upon layer from the top to come into being ten thousand hectares fields, which are gorgeous and magnificent under the exchange of sunshine and fog.
The best time to visit Yuanyang terraced fields in a year is from November to the next April. During that period, there is no rice in fields and every layer of level terraces is bright with perfect effect of light and shadow.
Photo source: wikitravel.org
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