In the south-east of Long Sheng County in Guangxi province
and within the land of Ping Xiang, there is a group of large-scaled rice
terraces built into the hillside. Some of the terraces look like great chains,
other look like ribbons. They wind from the foot to the top of the hill. The
smaller ones are like snails and the bigger ones like towers. There are layers
on layers of terraces, high and low. The outline is very smooth. Its scale is
enormous. It is called "The champion of the terrace world". It is the
Dragon's Backbone Rice Terraces. By the way, Long Sheng is also the gathering
land for the minorities, such as Yao, Dong, Zhuang and Miao. The stockaded
villages' backs face the hills and their fronts face the river.
The Dragon's Backbone Rice Terraces is 27 kilometers
from Long Sheng County, and it is 80 kilometers from Guilin city. The total
area of this scenic spot is 66 square kilometers. The altitudes of the terraces
vary between 300 meters & 1100 meters with sloping grades between 26
degrees and 35 degrees. The steepest slope is 50 degrees. Although there are
terraces everywhere in the mountain areas of South China, it is extremely rare
to see a terrace as big as the dragon ridge terrace.
Long Ji Mountain (the Dragon's Backbone Mountain) is a high
mountain and its peak, Mao Er peak, is the highest in South China. With its
foundation such a high mountain, how can the Dragon's Backbone Rice Terraces
not be winding and boundless! The total area of the Dragon's Backbone Rice
Terraces is 1014 hectares, and the whole terrace is built on the hillside with
attitude from 300 meters to 1100 meters. Layers of terraces swirl and climb up
from the river valley of torrent to the top of the hills where there are a lot
of clouds. If you look toward the horizon, you would see that blocks of
terraces are found to hand in hand, from the steep cliff to the end of the lush
trees. Everywhere there is mud, there are cultivated terraces. Specifically
speaking, the core of the terraces is a big land with area of two or three
square kilometers.
The Dragon's Backbone Rice Terraces was built from Yuan
Dynasty to the beginning of Qing Dynasty. It has already been more than 650
years in history.
The
four seasons in the terraces have different features. The lands of each season
present us a miracle. It is funny that in this big terrace world, the biggest
block is not more than one Mu (Chinese acre. One Mu equals to 670 square
meters.).
Zhuang and Yao people live in this Dragon's
Backbone Rice Terraces scenic spot, and mainly are Zhuang people. Their dress
is unique. Here you can feel the original Zhuang people's feelings. You can
enjoy some dancing arts, such as pole dancing and lion dancing from Zhuang and
reedpipe dancing from Yao. Also, you may come across the local customs of long
hair combing (It is a way women comb their hair). Besides, you can also enjoy
the simple living rooms in the zhuang villages, pure Longji(the dragon's
backbone) tea and Longji(the dragon's backbone) wine.
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