Stunning Rice Terraces Of Yuan Yang (元陽梯田) Via A String Of Pleasant Historical Towns (玉溪,建水,個舊)
Posted On Friday, November 30, 2012 at at 8:02 PM by Alvin
On our way to the famed Yuan Yang Rice Terraces (元陽梯田), we passed through a few interesting towns where we took time off to sample life in China's lesser known parts - 玉溪,建水,個舊. As it happened, the days were spent under a blue sky which made the sight-seeing that much more pleasant. 玉溪 boasted the country's famous son - 聶耳, as he was the artist who composed the National Anthem and there was a plaza, theatre and museum built to commemorate his achievements. 建水 on the other hand was an ancient town paved with cobble-stones and dotted with ancient buildings all over - we stayed in a house which was converted from a 200 years-old government house, we dined at 香滿樓 and 楊家花園 which made you feel that you had been time-transported back 300 years. The atmosphere and food at 楊家花園 worth a special praise. 個舊 used to be a mining town rich in tin although we hardly saw any evidence to its glorious past, except a stone plague erecting here and there as gentle reminders to its glorious past. The town was tidy and spotless and we had a relaxing lunch by the lake of 金湖.
And so it's on to the much anticipated Yuan Yang rice terraces where we stayed for 2 nights. Arriving close to sun down, the town located at over 1,600m was home to the local Hani (哈尼) peoples who were out on their sunset strolls and chit-chats and the temperature was a decent 21C. Against the run of play, the following morning we were shocked to find that the whole town was strouded in icy thick fog ! Out came the woolly jumpers as the temperature went into single digits, and we were praying on both knees for the sun to come out so we could at least catch a glimpse of ANY rice terrace. Luckily, we had a spare day on our hands and the thick fog soon began to clear by mid-morning and we had the rest of our stay basking in clear sunshine.
The rice terraces were truly un-intentional man-made art at its highest form as the Hani peoples spent the past thousands of years perfecting the art of cultivating rice paddies on steep slopes. Winter time was the season for photography enthusiasts as the terraces were filled with water which shimmered and reflected the beautiful dawn and dusk sun rays. We also enjoyed walking amongst the Hani villages (15km !) and marvelled at the all-round vistas of these famed rice terraces appearing and hiding in turns in the receding and advancing ground mists. A magical experience !
