Yuanyang Hani Terraced Fields

The best place to view the terraced fields isin the south of Yuanyang County, where the mountains are covered with terraces extending 2,000 meters, from the mountain top down to the valley. In winter and spring each year,the valley is filled with heavy mist, and the two mountains are like islands floating in a sea of cloud. Between the terraces, which reflect silver light, are stretches of green tea plantations. With plenty of rain and heavy mists, the Yunwu Tea (cloud and mist tea) produced in the town by the Yi ethnic group is extremely refreshing. The Yis are a people who love singing and dancing. Their dances imitate a hunt and have36parts, describing the hunting activities of their ancestors.

The Terraced Field in Yuanyang of the Hani nationality has been a big vibrant system since ancient times. Until now, it’s still the essence of the material and mental life of the Hayi people.  The 166,689-Mu terraced fields froster a peasant population of 336971. The forest covering an area of 63958.4 Hectares on the high mountain offers all water for living and irrigating farmlands to the people of the whole county.  4,653 ditches and main canals in the county still irrigate all the terraced fields on the mountains. This is the distinct characteristic of the Terraced Field in Yuanyang of the Hani nationality.

It doesn’t lose its original function like some historic sites, such as, the Great Wall, the Imperial Palace, the Emperor Qinshihuang Mausoleum, the Pyramid in Egypt and the Taiji Mausoleum in India. It isn’t a simple natural landscape like Taishan Mountain, Huangshan Mountain and the Nigaragua Cataract. It isn’t a pute creation produced by human beings like the Qufu Confucius Temple, the Budalagong in Lhasa, and the Summer Palace in Beijing. It’s a great human creation created by the harmonious blend of the Hani people and nature in the Ailao Mountains. It’s an outcome of the artful blend of culture and nature.