Duoyishu Rice Terraces
Duoyishu, 55 km to the Yuanyang County seat, is one of the major terraced-field areas applying for World Cultural Heritage. On the way to Duoyishu, one has to pass through Bada, another area of its kind in Yuanyang County. Duoyishu is the former site of the Mansion of Mr. Zongwa, the minority governor bestowed by the Ming Court in the Period of Wanli Emperor; some relics of the mansion and the Family Temple can even be seen nowadays.
Duoyishu is the one to hit for dawn apparently. It’s not super busy here. No more than maybe 12 people and a small gathering of local ethnic minority women trying to sell you warm, hardboiled eggs for breakfast.
With mountains on its three sides, Duoyishu is sitting in a huge “bay” dotted with a great number of villages with Hani’s Mushroom-like Houses. From east to west, 9,000 acres of terraced fields offer grand views like galloping horses and winding snakes. The bay, white, looks like so giant a waterfall cascading its water from south to north to make people marvel at. The locals called it “a sea of cloud” since it is foggy most time of the year. To many visitors who are specially enthralled by the terraced fields, it must be pre-destined to take a real look of the terraced fields.
In addition to the terraced fields, Duoyishu is highlighted by the customs of the Hani people who spend varieties of festivals including Zhatele, Miao’aina, Kuzaza, Limazhu festivals etc. All of these festivals reflect the Hani’s animism, nature worship and heroic worship etc.
Traditional food of Hani people is another must-try thing when one is in Duoyishu. Pork cooked in bamboo, cooked banana blossoms, soup prepared in bamboo and chicken cooked in bamboo etc, all taste good and can cater to different requests.
The spectacle of dawn and its effect upon the terraces is quite magnificent. The entire valley basin here has been crafted over the centuries into a sweeping, gently descending plateau of paddy basins, carved into the contours and slopes of the hills about. A myriad number of tiny stepped shelves. Each of them has their own mud-built boundary walls, acting as a dam to retain waters from either rainfall or direct irrigation and to facilitate the ‘wet’ cultivation of vast rice paddy crops.
It so overwhelming to see mountains and mountains full of man made terraces. It makes you take into account of what these fabulous people are capable of doing with their hands.
There are a number of rice paddy terraces in the Yuanyang area famed for their beauty at certain times of day. Primarily sunrise and sunset as when the paddy terraces are filled with water there is fabulous potential for the colours of the skies to be reflected in these giant cultivated pools that act like mirrors to the heavens.
In fact, in high season, when the terraces are flooded, you need to be there 2 hours in advance in order to get a good position on one of the viewing terraces. And then, for two hours, you will have to defend your position against latecomers (busloads of them) determined to push you off your pitch. But for an unforgettable view it is unbeatable. If you are extra lucky you'll have magical mist in the valley too, and glorious colour in the sky. If not you'll still marvel at the wonder of the sculpted terraces and go home with spectacular photographs. Take warm clothing.
