Dragon’s Backbone Rice Terraces, or Longji Rice Terraces in Chinese, is also called Longsheng Rice Terraces because of its location in Longsheng County, about 2 hours’ drive from Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
Longji Terraced Rice Fields received their name because the rice terraces resemble a dragon’s scales, while the summit of the mountain range looks like the backbone of the dragon. When standing on the top of the mountain, you can see the dragon’s backbone twisting off into the distance. In an early morning, when the weather is fine, the sunrise on the summit of Longji Rice Terraces is magnificent.
The Terraces have been built since the Yuan Dynasty and completed in the Qing Dynasty by the people of Zhuang ethnic group. There are about 66 square kilometers terraced fields in southeast of Longsheng, with the construction making best use of scarce arable lands and water resources in mountainous areas. These terraces are built into the hillsides, and look like great chains or ribbons as they wind round the contours in tiered bands. In some places there are terraces from the bottom to the top of the hillside.
The coiling line divides the whole mountain into different layers which can take on different images with corresponding features as seasons change. In Spring, the fields are irrigated, and each field looks like a mirror reflecting the blue sky and fluffy clouds. In summer, gentle breeze dances though the blades of green rice seedlings. Autumn is a golden color season because of the mature rice. And in winter, the snow makes the terraces and the villages to be a fairy world. The View of Longji terrace is fantastic in all the year round, however, Spring and Autumn are most recommended.
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