The Yuanyang area (about 7 hours by bus south of Kunming) is famous
throughout China for its terraced fields of rice, carved out of the steep
hillsides by the Hani minority people. Ali and Paul went there in October
2007,
maybe not the best time for spectacular views as the harvest had just begun -
the terraces are best seen in the Spring when the paddies are full of water. As
compensation we witnessed harvesting operations at close hand. And the local
people (mostly Yi and Hani
minorities) are a spectacular sight at any time!
We based ourselves at the town of Xinjie and hired a motor-trike (and driver) to
take us out into the surrounding countryside. The harvesting seemed to be a
family affair: the women cutting, men threshing, and the kids playing around in
the mud!
After the rice is threshed, the straw stalks are either laid across the stubble
prior to burning or tied up in bundles and left on the paddy wall to dry. This
straw is then used to feed livestock or sometimes as roofing material.
The views were pretty spectacular, if a little hazy. The enormous extent of the
terracing was obvious, but probably the most impressive feature is the unseen
system of channels which allocates just the right amount of water to each field.
The Duoyishu terraces are pictured left; those at Bada above
right.
Later in the day we walked out to the village of Longshuba for some more
terrace views, and interactions with the locals...
The villagers (mostly little old ladies...) were returning home after a hard
day's work in the fields carrying huge haystacks, heavy threshing boxes or
massive bulging sacks of rice grain.
Paul wound up the local kids into a hyperactive frenzy of excitement and then
sent them off to mob Ali...
Xinjie itself is a busy market town sprawling upwards along a
mountain ridge with expansive views in all directions. It has the feel of a
bustling Indian hill station (without the British Colonial architecture!). The
main attraction for us was the large number of colourfully dressed minority
nationality women living and working in the town, or selling produce (for
example, bamboo shoots and "tujidan" eggs, pictured above) at the
market.
Yi nationality women spend the time embroidering while waiting for custom (they
were selling vegetables) at the market.
Left to right: Hani woman selling chickens; this Yi woman's stall offers
bottles of honey, bee larvae and thick green bamboo tubes (the ends stuffed with
bracken fronds) containing "zhuchong" bamboo grubs. Both insects are
eaten (stirfried) and the bee larvae are also taken as a Traditional Chinese
Medicine; Yi woman offloads baskets of vegetables from a truck. Where are all
the men while this activity takes place? Working in the fields or sitting around
drinking tea and playing mahjong? A bit of both probably...
Some more pictures from Yuanyang. The middle one probably sums up the experience
for me - although we had come to see the rice terraces, they were really just a
backdrop to our interactions with the locals. Thanks to Paul for a memorable
three days!
More views of the terraces at Duoyishu.
HOME PAGE
LEAF-go-VSO
