20 Incredible Pictures Of Rice Terraces From Above

The Philippines

1. Window to the "Eighth Wonder of the World," the rice terraces in Banaue

The rice terraces in Banaue, a mountain village in the central Cordilleras in the north of Luzon Island, are located about 330 km north of Manila. Their construction was started more than 2,000 years ago by the local communities, ancestors of the Batad indigenous people, and with only the use of primitive tools.

2. Rows and rows of intricately carved rice terraces in Banaue, Philippines

Banaue’s rice terraces are 1,500 meters (5,000 ft) above sea level and cover more than 10,000 square kilometers (4,000 square miles) of mountainside. It is said that if the plots were laid out next to each other, they would cover a distance of about 25,000 km (10,000 ft). In comparison, the Great Wall of China is 'only' 6,000 km (2,800 ft) long! No wonder then that Banaue’s rice terraces are frequently referred to as the “Eighth Wonder of the World.”

3. A village nestled in the rice terraces in Batad, 12 km away from Banaue

The ancient irrigation system is fed by the rainforests above the terraces through an intricate combination of collecting the water of mountain springs and transporting it via bamboo pipes, dams and sluices to the upper rice terraces, from where it flows through selected openings to lower paddies.

4. The rice terraces in Batad look pretty and dramatic on a gloomy day

The whole of the rice terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985, just to put them on the Red List of World Heritage Sites in Danger in 2001. Almost 30% of the terraces are not managed any more and are therefore threatened by decay.

5. Rice terraces in Banaue (right) and the Dragon Backbones in China

Rice farming is also backbreaking work, as most of the narrow paddies can only be farmed by hand, like they were millennia ago. No wonder then that the younger generation is more drawn to jobs in the hospitality industry, or moves away to Manila to make their fortune there. Pollution and an increasing
number of tourists visiting the site are gnawing further on the famous “Stairways to the Sky.”

China

6. The rice terraces in Yuangyang, China, look like an artwork

What has saved the rice terraces built by the Hani people in China’s Yuangyang County so far is their relative remoteness. They are located in Yunnan province in southwest China, a region not easily accessible and therefore not exploited for tourism but rich in natural beauty and untouched scenery. The spectacular rice terraces drop from almost the
summits of the nearby, 2,500-m-tall Ailao Mountains to the bed of the Red River.

7. The clouds burst open over the rice terraces

The rice farmers who built the terraces almost by hand more than 1,000 years ago had to know about ecology and land preservation long before those concepts had names. Otherwise, without the hard work of maintaining the terrace walls as well as the ancient irrigation system, the precious top soil would have washed down the hillsides into the rivers.

8. Stained glass or impressionist painting? Rice terraces in Yunnan province

Even today, the Yuangyang rice terraces are a self-sustaining eco-system, perfectly in sync with nature like it was a thousand years ago. Just like the Banaue rice terraces, the Yuangyang rice terraces are irrigated with spring water from the rainforest above. The water then evaporates from the rice terraces and forms clouds whose rain water is collected and trapped by the rainforest, from where it is used for the irrigation of the rice fields again.

There is only one harvest per year but the landscape changes throughout with the many flooded paddies creating reflecting pools that are a photographer’s delight. In fact, the Yuangyang rice terraces remind one more of a painting than a real landscape.

9. Rice terraces in Longsheng, perfectly in sync not only with nature

The Dragon's Backbone rice terraces in Longji, about 80 km north of Guilin or 27 km southeast of Longsheng County, in comparison, have been well-documented and attract a steady stream of visitors every day. Each terrace has been carved out of the mountainside during the Yuan and Qing Dynasties from the late 1200s to the early 1600s.

10. Flooded rice terrace fields in Douyishu on the way to Yuangyang

The terraces cover an area of 66 square km (about 16,308 acres) and span an altitude from 300 m (984 ft) to 1,100 m (3,608 ft). They are still being farmed today.

11. A house’s reflection in flooded rice paddies in Yangshuo County in southeast China

As this picture shows, settlements can be found among the rice terraces, too.

Indonesia

12. A building's reflection in the rice fields of Ubud, Bali

Ubud, with a population of only 8,000, is a small town in the southeast of the Indonesian island of Bali. Because of its scenic rice terraces and steep ravines, Ubud has become a popular tourist destination and major arts and cultural hub.

13. Rice terraces with palm trees in Ubud

14. Flooded rice fields glinting in the sun in Pupuan, Bali

15. On the way to Amed in Bali: Rice terraces everywhere

Nepal, Thailand and Vietnam

16. A stunning view of rice terraces near the Annapurna Base Camp in Nepal

17. Lush green rice terraces in Mae Rim, Thailand

Rice terrraces in Sapa, Vietnam

18. Browns, greens and symmetry in Sapa, Vietnam

Sapa in the northwest of Vietnam, near the Chinese border, is about 380 km away from Hanoi. It is a popular trekking destination because of the spectacular scenery of the Tonkinese Alps, home of the Montagnard hill tribes for centuries.

19. Like a stairway to the sky, a rice terrace in Sapa

20. View of the Muong Hoa river and valley from Tavan, a 13-km hike from Sapa

Source: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

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