Backpacking the Dragon's Backbone Rice Terraces - China
Reposted: October 15, 2024 | Tagged: China
In 2014, I quietly celebrated 1 year of travels visiting the Dragon's Backbone Rice Terraces in Guangxi Province, China.
The Dragon's Backbone Rice Terraces are located in Guangxi Province but are more commonly known as Longsheng or Longji Rice Terraces. They aren't exactly in Longsheng.
The name 'Dragon's Backbone Rice Terraces' simply comes from what they look like.
The name 'Dragon's Backbone Rice Terraces' simply comes from what they look like.
Looking back at my original post from 2014, I am amazed how many places in China I actually managed to visit. I am trying to recollect how got to the Longji Rice Terraces.
I had crossed from Laos at the Boten Mohan border crossing, gone to Xishuangbanna, Yuanyang Rice Terraces, then Kunming and then the Xijiang Scenic Area. From my notes, I know it then took me the best part of two more days to get to Longsheng.
Which was well worth the effort - long days in numerous buses over mountain roads and the language barrier resulting in some delays and a night at nice hotel in Rongjiang before continuing my journey to Longsheng.
I had crossed from Laos at the Boten Mohan border crossing, gone to Xishuangbanna, Yuanyang Rice Terraces, then Kunming and then the Xijiang Scenic Area. From my notes, I know it then took me the best part of two more days to get to Longsheng.
Which was well worth the effort - long days in numerous buses over mountain roads and the language barrier resulting in some delays and a night at nice hotel in Rongjiang before continuing my journey to Longsheng.
I was following the advice on The Candy Trail, a blog with a difference, by my buddy MRP of places worth visiting and some notes on how to get there.
Chinese sites like ChinaHighlights were a great resource on where to go and what to see and they also gave basic information on how to get there.
I didn't have a Lonely Planet guide book, I didn't have a smartphone.
The trick on the ground was to ask enough people. They were always incredibly helpful and got me where I needed to go, eventually.
Here is Google Maps showing the Longji Scenic Area:
Chinese sites like ChinaHighlights were a great resource on where to go and what to see and they also gave basic information on how to get there.
I didn't have a Lonely Planet guide book, I didn't have a smartphone.
The trick on the ground was to ask enough people. They were always incredibly helpful and got me where I needed to go, eventually.
Here is Google Maps showing the Longji Scenic Area:
I took a bus from Longsheng/Longshengzhen direction Guilin, getting off at Hepingxiang before a final minivan to Dazhai where the ticket office is located.
So having paid my entry, I am met by the owner of the Tian Ti Hotel in Tiantou village which was crazy bizarre as that was where my buddy MRP had ended up. They come down from the villages to meet the buses.
She spoken great English. And her mum was the porter. She was bent double, from having worked the rice terraces all her life. And I point blank refused the offer. Yet she left me for dust. Looks can be very deceiving.
So having paid my entry, I am met by the owner of the Tian Ti Hotel in Tiantou village which was crazy bizarre as that was where my buddy MRP had ended up. They come down from the villages to meet the buses.
She spoken great English. And her mum was the porter. She was bent double, from having worked the rice terraces all her life. And I point blank refused the offer. Yet she left me for dust. Looks can be very deceiving.
Construction of the Longji Rice Terraces 龙脊梯田 (Dragon's Backbone Rice Terraces) began in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) and continued until the early Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). The minority people here are Yao in Tiantouzhou or Zhuang in Ping'An, the two areas.
Map from chinahighlights.com showing the location of the terraces in relation to Guilin and Longsheng:
Map from chinahighlights.com showing the location of the terraces in relation to Guilin and Longsheng:
I had a cracking room. Sadly, at that time, I wasn't a proper blogger. I never took enough photos of important things to record the journey.
There are 4 viewpoints, 1, 2 and 3 and another with no number, in the vicinity and all are linked with numerous stoned paths. But sadly, in the offseason, the terraces were NOT filled with water. Some disputes by the locals against the authorities who take the entrance fees where not one single RMB makes its way to the villagers.
My host family; mother and daughter, at the Tian Ti hotel, just 40RMB a night through the steam of 'meat' hot pot on my 365th day of travels:
The Yao are 1 of 56 officially recognised ethnic groups in China. They were having a festival one afternoon:
Low cloud moved in on my last morning with horrendous rain. I checked out and headed back down the hill to reach Guilin by 4 pm.
This was a great spot. So peaceful. I wish I could have stayed longer. But with just a 30-day visa, time is always running.
This was a great spot. So peaceful. I wish I could have stayed longer. But with just a 30-day visa, time is always running.