A million mirrors for heaven
The Hani tribe's majestic rice terraces cultivate global recognition
The Honghe Hani rice terraces have risen layer upon layer from the Honghe River’s southern bank for more than 1,300 years.
Fanning up the flanks of the Ailao Mountains, they span four counties in the Honghe Hani and Yi autonomous prefecture of China’s southwestern Yunnan province.
Their manmade wonder caught the eye of Unesco this month and they have now been enshrined as World Heritage.
The nominated area in Yuanyang county covers 461 square kilometres and displays the most concentrated and best-developed terraces in three valleys.
The 82 villages in the area are home to 80,000 people from the Hani and six other ethnic groups.
The terraces cascade from a summit 2,000 metres above sea level to the mountain’s base. In some places, there are as many as 3,700 terraces flowing down the slopes. The steepest drop at 45 degrees.
“The Hani rice terraces are not just a natural splendour but also the most harmonious masterpiece of man and nature,” the prefecture’s deputy director Tan Ping says.
Tan explains they create a system that fuses agriculture and ecology, with forests, villages, terraces and water.
The highland forests are the lifeblood of the system to capture the water that makes irrigation possible.
“The forests are the only reservoir,” says Zhang Hongzhen, Hani Rice Terraces Administrative Bureau director and the man who led the Unesco bid.
The Hani traditionally believed the woodlands are home to their village god Angma and their nature deity Misong, who blesses them with peace and prosperity. They vigorously guard the sacred forests from outsiders.
The villages are built in the lower fringes, with “mushroom houses” built of rammed earth, adobe bricks and stone with umbrella-shaped straw-thatched roofs.
The houses typically have three storeys, the first for livestock, the second the living area and the top floor for grain storage.
“The scenery before rice transplanting is like heaven for photographers,” Yunnan’s deputy governor Gao Feng says. “The terraces are full of water, which makes them appear as millions of mirrors reflecting the sun, clouds and sky.”
From late April to late September, Hani people grow red rice, the terrace’s dominant crop. Cattle and buffalo plough the terraces, and no chemical fertilisers are used.
Fish and ducks are also bred in the paddies, which improves fertility while providing food for people and animals.
The water from brooks, springs and rain is collected by the forests and distributed to the fields through a gravitational system of ditches, canals and bamboo pipes.
Artesian wells in the villages provide drinking water.
“The integrated four-element system plays the wetlands’ role. It conserves moisture and soil, adjusts the climate and sustains biodiversity,” says Xiong Zhengyi, director of the Yunnan cultural heritage bureau.
He adds that the terraces withstood the severe drought that has parched Yunnan for three years.
China began preparing the World Heritage application and domestic designations in 2000 to protect the world wonder.
A monitoring centre has been running for a year to study more than 10 ecological dimensions, such as forests and climate. The centre has helped blunt the threat from alien species, such as the South American crayfish, which invaded the fields three years ago.
Red rice contains up to 18 amino acids and is being sold outside the Ailao Mountains. More than 90 trademarks have been registered to protect intellectual property rights.
This May, the State Council designated the property as a State Priority Protected Site.
From October, only electric vehicles will be allowed to drive in the area.
“The Honghe Hani Rice Terraces’ protection must receive all stakeholders’ support,” says State Administration of Cultural Heritage deputy director Tong Mingkang.
The government will offer farmers subsidies to encourage them to continue cultivating the paddies. Otherwise, it is feared nearly all locals might abandon them to work in the tourism industry.
More detailed and sustainable ecotourism strategies are being developed to alleviate increased pressure from visitors.
Farmer Li Yousheng, from Yuanyang county’s Dayutang village, says he now understands better than ever why protecting the terraces is important.
“The World Cultural Heritage designation shows the magnitude of our guardianship of the Hani lifeblood,” the 53-year-old says.
