High up in the mountains above Guilin (China) are the magnificent terraced rice fields. Growing up in the country (California) my Father grew rice. Though the fields around my childhood home were flat and the rice grain was planted by plane. Later it would be harvested by machines.
In Longsheng the rice fields are toiled, then planted, flooded, later harvested and the grain is carried out by hand.
Looking out over the terraced rice fields I could appreciate their beauty knowing how back breaking hard it was to create and cultivate such a wonder.
We arrived when the land was being toiled.
Some fields, if I dare call them that, as they are as narrow as a street sidewalk and each terrace is over five feet high, paddies is a better word, had been planted.
Mostly women work the ground with a mere shovel. Luckily the ground was very soft compared to the ground back home. Nevertheless, the miles stretched out before them: Shovel, hand and hours and hours of work ahead.
As I walked around on the small stone paths between the rice terrace fields I could imagine them through the seasons: The freshly toiled paddies that are later filled with spring water that glissen with the Spring's sun, then patches of hand planted green rice shoots bursting forth in the Summer, that give way golden and swaying to Autumn. The red moon as the labors harvest the rice and carry it on their backs in hand made baskets, and finally the silvery frosted ground in winter.
"They say that the rice terraces are often considered most beautiful in early June. At this time, water is pumped over the rice paddies and young plants are transferred to the main terraces." (Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License)
Though each season carries its own unique beauty.
Small vegetable crops are grown in the paddies during the off season.
Longsheng's famously beautiful, spiraling rice terraced fields, and villages lace the mountainous area, were built about 700 years ago. The terraced rice fields are also called: Longi or Dragon's Backbone were created by the Zhuang people by hand through many generations’ hard work.
The paths between the rice fields are covered with stone as the natural springs run pass and through them to fill the fields. The stones help kept the paths intact and from becoming one muddy mess. The paths weave for miles, they are not steep but not strenuous, they are long and forever twisting, winding and taking one further and further away from the village and higher into the mountain.
The rice terraced fields are high in the mountains and are numerous, of which the terraced fields in Longji are the most spectacular. We walked around eight miles, though in one area alone there are over fifteen miles of terraced rice fields.
Pigs, chickens, horses, and people are busy and moving around on these high twisty paths because they actually work and live there. About eight hundred families live in Longsheng.
The nearest city is Guilin which is a good two hours away. Guilin has a major airport, and the city is large with many different types of restaurants and hotels for any budget.
We hired a taxi driver to take us to Longsheng and then to take us back to Guilin. The ride to Longsheng was one straight up twisty son of a gun, made more thrilling by the narrow road with Chinese tourist buses zooming in and out. In fact it made riding the motorcycle up Stelvio in Italy literally feel like a walk in the park.
You can stay in the village in Longsheng that is nestled in the middle of the rice fields. We had lunch at one of the family run restaurants, it was a pure guessing game as nothing was written in English, nor were there photos as so often there are.. We pointed to other people plates and managed to have a wonderful meal.
Also if you decide to stay in Longsheng pack light as the hike to the hostels and hotels is not for the weak of heart. There are porters as well.
Red lanterns hang from the wooden homes, hoping for good fortune and good health.
The Great Wall and the rice terraces both awed me. The size, the work involved, the history… both are worthy to see, over and over again. No photo I have seen or taken could give a sense of the depth they offer. Beautiful at every step.
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