Honghe Hani Rice Terraces (Yuanyang)

UNESCO World Heritage Site (Cultural Landscape Of Honghe Hani Rice Terraces, 2013) · Yuanyang, Yunnan

Thousands of rice terraces stepping down steep mountainsides in the Ailao Mountains of southern Yunnan, carved and farmed by the Hani people for some 1,300 years. The UNESCO World Heritage cultural landscape, inscribed in 2013, is a whole living system: forests on the ridgetops catch the mist and feed streams, channels carry the water through villages of mushroom-roofed houses, and the terraces below flood it field by field down to the valleys. From about late November to April the flooded terraces become mirrors of sky and cloud, glowing at sunrise at Duoyishu and at sunset at Bada and Laohuzui, sometimes tinted red by floating plants in midwinter. Yi, Dai and Miao communities share the hills, with colourful rotating village markets. Xinjie, the old county town, is the usual base, a long drive or bus-and-train trip from Kunming.

Duoyishu Viewpoint, Yuanyang County, Honghe Prefecture, Yuanyang, Yunnan, China

Scenic area open year-round; viewpoints roughly from an hour before sunrise to an hour after sunset (about 6:00-19:30), with longer holiday hours.

Honghe Hani Rice Terraces (Yuanyang) on Spottos · Explore more places on Spottos