UNESCO World Heritage SiteNational 5A Scenic AreaSouthwest China
Yuanyang Rice Terraces
元阳梯田 · Yunnan, Honghe
Vast Hani rice terraces carved into mountainsides over 1,300 years, glowing at sunrise and sunset.
The Yuanyang Rice Terraces cover thousands of hectares of Honghe's mountains in sweeping, carved steps that the Hani people have farmed for over 1,300 years. In winter and spring the fields are flooded and mirror the sky, turning the hillsides into vast reflective patterns of gold, silver and blue at sunrise and sunset — one of China's most photographed rural landscapes.
The Hani people began carving the terraces into the Ailao mountains around the Sui-Tang period, developing a sophisticated irrigation system that channels forest water down to the paddies. The Cultural Landscape of Honghe Hani Rice Terraces was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2013.
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