World China Hunan Lengshuitan

Nat & Jon's Asia Pacific Tour

Longsheng Rice Terraces Nov 19, 2006

We're finally tearing ourselves away from Yangshuo and heading to the Rice Terraces in Longsheng- with some new German friends...

Spent two nights in the hills of Ping An, a small village 18 Km north of Longsheng. Arrived late the first day after a long day of travelling with two new friends that we met in Yangshuo, Judith and Ronny. If it weren't for the surrounding rice terraces, the village makes you feel like you are on a ski holiday in Austria. The rustic wooden buildings, with the smell of wood burning in chimneys, are incredibly cozy and inviting. As soon as we arrived, we were glad we made the trip. We did a short hike before dinner and hoped the fog would lift in the morning, since we came here primarily for the majestic views of the rice terraces, reverently referred to as the Dragon's back by locals since they are cut in layers, like sculpture, into the mountainsides. We arranged for a guide through the adorable hotel manager, FeFe (it means 'fly' she says when you meet her). Ashran met us at the hotel after breakfast and the five of us headed out for an all-day hike at 9am. The terraces stretch out for approximately 32 miles and the hiking options are numerous and often tricky, thus the need for a guide and ours didn't disappoint. Ashran, FeFe told us, is also the cook and the 3rd hotel cleaner (apparently they are ranked here). Silent(no English), she led the way motoring up and down the tight winding trails like a 4-wheel drive wind-up doll. Simply clad in the traditional Chinese/Tibetan wardrobe of black slacks and a pink jacket with floral patterns at the wrists and calves, she and her tiny white tennis shoes led us, over-geared-up Westerners, through some of the most spectacular scenery we have ever seen. Timber houses seem suspended in mid-air as they hang over the valley admist the terraces. And as the fog clears, we can see the layers and layers of rice terraces stretch for miles along the pristine countryside (Hard to keep from stopping every few minutes to snap off a few more photos). The rain doesn't hold off for long but we trudge along anyway stopping for lunch at a quiet hotel/restaurant high above the terraces. Socked-in with minimal views, we ate our fried rice, mixed vegetables and sweet and sour pork, while Ashran watched a soap on the tube and picked at some of our dishes (strangely, while we were guzzling H2O, we never saw her drink a drop of water all day, including lunchtime. If I didn't see her watching her show, I wouldn't be sure she wasn't some new high tech Chinese robot). After lunch we hiked for another couple hours in the light rain and ended up hopping a bus back to our village since there was no sign of the rain stopping. Great day and a great way to wrap up our time in mainland China.