Introduction:

If you have seen the famous Banaue rice terraces of the Ifugaos in The Philippines and then visit the endless rice terraced mountains of Yuanyang in Southern Yunnan, you regret having wasted time and gone through an unsafe trip on Luzon's killer roads.

Compared with Ifugao, the Hani people in Yuanyang have much larger mountains and gorgeous sites to cultivate. Their endless irrigated terraces are giving a new meaning to paddy rice cultivation in Asia . And: there is hardly any tourist be seen... yet.

The landscape changes vividly through the year. The paddies are flooded in the winter and early spring -- this creates the reflecting pool effect, a photographer's dream. In the summer, the paddies are luxuriantly green with growing rice stalks. After the fall harvest, the paddies become naked bare earth.

The technique of building rough hills into fertile farmland has since spread throughout China and Southeast Asia , and an emperor of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) granted the Hanis the title "Superb Conquerors of Mountains."

Terraced fields are the life of the Hani people. The 10,000-hectare terraced fields feed a population of 336,971, and the 63,958.4-hectare forest provides water for daily use and irrigation of the entire county. There are 4,653 ditches irrigating the terraced fields in Yuanyang.

The zigzagging terraced fields form a beautiful pattern of lines when seen from a distance. None of the terraced fields is straight. Instead, they resemble myriad shapes, Os and Ns, eights and twos, as well as the Chinese character.

Yuanyang rice terraces: definitely the world's most spectacular!

Itinerary:

Day 1: Shanghai-Kunming-Yuanyang

Our adventure will start when we take a morning flight to Kunming . Upon arrival in Kunming we'll take the van driving 6 hours to Yuanyang. We will stay the night in Yuanyang.

Day 2: Yuanyang

The first stop of our terraces adventure is Laohuzui, the biggest terrace fields in Yuanyang. The rest of the day we will visit a few Hani villages and hiking to Longshuba village to see the breath-taking sunset there.

Day 3: Yuanyang

We have to get up very early heading Duoyishu to see the sunrise. If we are lucky we will also see the beautiful cloud sea over the rice terraced fields! On the way back we will visit Sheng village. It's the traditional Market Day! Somehow you will feel like being in the year 1950. In the afternoon we will drive to Fuxian Lake. The lake is ranked third largest in Yunnan, right after the Dianchi Lake and the Erhai Lake. Also the deepest lake in Yunnan, it is 155 meters deep at its greatest depth. It is also the second deepest fresh water lake in China after Tianchi Lake, a volcanic body of water in Changbai Mountain in Northeast China. We will stay the night in a resort by the lake.

Day4: Kunming to Shanghai

The morning is open to you to relax on the beach by the lake. We will drive to Kunming to take flight back to Shanghai in the afternoon. Trip ends.

*We reserve the right to change the itinerary with or without notice.

Trip Cost

The cost of each trip will normally cover the following:
> All land transportation
> All domestic air transport and transfers as stated in the itinerary and airport departure tax
> All services of trip leaders and local guides
> All scheduled meals and accommodation
> All entry fees

YANA trips do not include:
> Food other than breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and beverages other than tea, coffee, or soft drinks at meals arranged by YANA
> Travel and medical insurance
> Gratuities to leaders or guides
> Excursions other than those specified in trips
> Private snacks and drinks