Blogs from Longji Rice Terraces, Guangxi, China, Asia

We arrived in Guilin after a 1.5 hour flight from Lijiang. After collecting our bags we met a very giggly Chinese lady who was our driver for the 2.5 hour trip to Ping'an. The trip was beautiful but very slow (and included a stop to refuel and get the car washed); our driver didn't do much for certain stereotypes which exist about her gender or race... On arrival at the gate to enter Ping'an we said farewell to our driver and avoided the women offering to carry our bags in baskets on their backs (Scott's bag has wheels and mine is a backpack so we're not sure why we needed someone to put our bags into a basket and then carry them...nor would we have felt comfortable watching a grandma lug our bags up the hill..). ... read more

In China gibt es dreimal im Jahr eine einwöchige Ferienwoche für alle, im Prinzip wie eine Feiertagswoche. Nach dem mid-autumn festival gibt es in den ersten sieben Tagen des Oktobers Urlaub. Den verbrachten wir in den Reisterrassen und in Guilin. Am 29ten ging es dann los. Um halb zehn fuhren wir gen Guilin. Nach drei Stunden Holperfahrt kamen wir an, zwischendurch ertappte ich mich dabei wie ich mir einredete, dass der Fahrer weiß was er tut. Guilin ist im Vergleich zu Gongcheng unglaublich verwirrend aber trotzdem sind wir mit einem Bus zu dem zweiten Busbahnhof gefahren. Von dort aus ging die Fahrt weiter, genauso holprig, dafür weniger gefährlich aber voll. Voll ist auch das Stichwort für den nächsten Bus, dieser war voller Mütter mit Kindern, einer Kontrolleurin und Hühnern. Nachdem wir pro Kopf hundert rmb bezahlt ... read more

Longji Rice Terraces(near Longsheng!) Here in Southern China they grow rice, A LOT OF RICE. The Chinese like to cultivate rice by flooding the fields because it helps helps with soil fertilization, deters both weeds and pests, and keeps pesky vermin away. So how exactly does one grow rice on a hill? You make terraces. A LOT OF TERRACES. The mountainous region around Longsheng is heavily striated with rice fields. The Longji Rice Terraces (aka the Dragon's Backbone) is by far the most spectacular showing of this farm engineering technique with terraces running from valley floor up 1,640 feet to the ridges. We were lucky to have a few hours with a clear view across the valley. Heavy fog banks and strong mists severely limit visibility usually in the winter and early-spring months. The next morning ... read more

After reaching Guilin from Yangshuo on the short one hour bus ride, we were dropped at the main bus/train terminal and immediately greeted with pollution, chaotic traffic and crossing the main road felt like we were risking our lives. Our first imprssions of Guilin were not great, but we were not here for the city, but to gain access to the Longji (Dragon) rice terraces which are located between 2 - 3 hours outside of town. Our first job was to locate our hostel 'Wada' which was three stops away on the local bus - this was easier said than done but once we had found out which bus and direction to head in we didn't have too many problems. Upon check-in, we immediately fell in love with the hostel - it had a great backpacker ... read more

Wow, this is one scenic place. About 880 m above sealevel. Climbing to the top is a very sweaty business, however. The beautiful scenery is just such a great reward. Starting the morning early by bus from Yangshuo we traveled by bus to this Longji terraces, also known as Dragon's Backbone due to the mountains ridges that can be seen from the top with beautiful rice terraces everywhere. It is about a 3 hours drive through a curving and climbing valley to this area. Before reaching the terraces we first stopped off at the famous long hair villages at the bottom of the valley. Some womans hair is 2.1 m long and they twirl it around their heads and then tie it in a certain way. The way they tie it also indicates if they are ... read more