Cultural Landscape of Honghe Hani Rice Terraces
The Honghe Hani Rice Terraces Cultural Landscape is located in southern Yunnan and covers 16,603 hectares. The terraces are spectacular, stretching from the slopes of the towering Ailao Mountains to the banks of the Red River. Over the past 1,300 years, the Hani people have developed a complex system of canals to bring water from the forested mountaintops to the terraces. They have also created an integrated agricultural system that includes buffalo, cattle, ducks, fish and eels, and supports the production of red rice, the region's main crop. Local residents worship the sun, moon, mountains, rivers, forests and other natural phenomena, including fire. They live in 82 villages between the mountaintop forests and the terraces. The villages feature traditional thatched "mushroom" houses. The terraces' resilient land management system is based on remarkable and long-standing social and religious structures, demonstrating extraordinary visual and ecological harmony between people and the environment.