Yuan Yang Terraces Fields

#discoverchina The Terraced Fields in China's Yuan Yang 云雾河谷，生命梯田，山岭雕塑 Yuan Yang county, Hong He Ha Ni and Yi autonomous prefecture, Yunnan Province, China, scattering thousands of mountains, has a tremendous elevation difference with an average altitude of 2150 meters and the lowest valley of 144 meters.Therefore, the climates are vertical here. It enjoys abundant rain and it is often misty and the humidity is high here. There are 180 days of a year when the valleys are concealed by the mist. Green mountains, dwellings, terraced fields and clouds pose a integrated landscape here. Ethnic minorities like Yi, Ha Ni, Miao, Yao，etc. are living in the mountains concealed by the sea of clouds. Traditionally,they pass down the eco-protection awareness for generations, because they believe the forests is the water source of mountains and the water gives life to the terraced fields and eventually the terraced fields are their life sustainer. It is because of this belief that they take protecting the forest as a priority in their life and unite the forests, dwellings and terraced fields organically. For thousand years. they rely on the mountains and cultivated thousands of terraced fields on them. These terraced fields differ in scales: the bigger ones with hundreds of meters in length and hectares in proportion and the smaller ones with the size of a bathtub and few meters long. The total proportion is 24000 hectares. As far as your sight can go, the terraced fields connect the mountains up, the waters in the fields reflect the mountains' shadows and they looks like a grand vertical ocean, so it is called the most beautiful terraced fields in the world and the most beautiful sculpture of land.