Longji Rice Terraces

Most of the terraces were built around 650 years ago. Travel sources describe cultivation beginning in the Yuan dynasty and the main terracing being completed by the early Qing dynasty, as generations of farmers cut fields into slopes that were too steep for ordinary agriculture. The terraces sit roughly between 600 and 800 m in the core areas, with fields and viewpoints reaching higher on the surrounding ridges.

The area is part of Longsheng Various Nationalities Autonomous County, a name that reflects its mix of peoples. The Zhuang live mainly in Ping'an and the Longji Ancient Zhuang Village, while the Red Yao live among the Jinkeng terraces around Dazhai and Tiantou. Their irrigation systems, channelling water from forested hilltops down through the paddies, have allowed the terraces to be farmed continuously for centuries. Today tourism sits alongside rice farming as a mainstay of the local economy.

The terraces are a living farm, not a museum. Families plant rice in spring, tend the paddies through summer and harvest in autumn, and visitors are likely to see buffalo, drying racks and people carrying loads along the paths. Traditional wooden houses on stilts, many now part guesthouse, part family home, line the slopes. Red Yao women are known for their embroidered clothing and for long hair traditionally cut only once in adulthood, displayed in elaborate coils. Please ask before photographing people and stay on paths to avoid damaging the terrace walls.