Terraces on top of the world

Preservation is key

The Hani terraces have been superbly preserved in four counties of Honghe Hani and Yi autonomous prefecture, across an area of 160,000 hectares. In Yuanyang alone, 16,000 hectares feed 82 villages.

The prefecture government first applied to be added to the UNESCO list in 2001, and although the process took 12 years, the hard work finally paid off.

Before 2009, old-fashioned dirt roads made travel difficult and a lack of decent vantage points prevented visitors from getting a good view of the paddies, especially in autumn when the water reflects sunlight like a mirror.

At the time, the food in the local restaurants was of poor quality and conditions were less than sanitary. A dearth of decent hotels meant tourism was restricted to day trips and visitors were forced to return to the county seat in Nansha township at night. Unsurprisingly, the farmers who cultivated the terraces derived little benefit from tourism.

The Yuanyang county government was farsighted and recognized the area's potential. In late 2009, it brought in Expo Tourism Co, based in the provincial capital, Kunming, to develop tourism on the terraces. A sealed highway that linked four large villages was laid, enabling tourists to undertake a 45-km round trip that passes through 82 villages.

The Hani terraces are Yunnan's fifth World Heritage site, alongside sights such as the Old Town of Lijiang and the Stone Forest. Recognition hasn't always been a boon, though; as tourism developed and visitor numbers swelled in Lijiang, many of the native Naxi people fled the city, which had become unpleasantly overcrowded in peak season.

In 2007, the Stone Forest in Kunming was declared a World Heritage site and three years later the number of visitors to the attraction in the Karst landscape had tripled. Although the extra income was welcome, the large number of visitors threatened to damage the environment and swamp the local culture.

That experience has set experts thinking about the best way to avoid a similar problem at the Hani terraces.

The terrace in Yuanyang, a core area of traditional farming techniques in Honghe, is expected to welcome 1.5 million visitors this year, an increase of 60 percent year-on-year, said Lu Jianguo, director of the county's tourism bureau. "At present, there are no plans for any further construction work in the terrace area. The most important thing is to keep the terrace intact," he said.

Honghe's 1.26 million Hani population accounts for more than half of all the people living in this ecosystem of forests, villages, rice terraces and rivers. The water flowing through the forest forms streams and small rivers that provide drinking water for the villagers and irrigate the rice terraces.

In every village, a stone monument has been erected at the "water entrance" to the fields and on Hani New Year's Day, which falls in late October or early November, the locals worship the water god and pray for a good harvest.

Expo Tourism spent more than 120 million yuan on the construction of the scenic sites that surround the terrace areas. However, the number of buildings contravened UNESCO regulations and so several were demolished, resulting in a loss of 13 million yuan for the company.

Li Shufa, deputy general manager of Expo Tourism, said no new permanent buildings will be erected on the site and the local government is attempting to strike a balance between the development of tourism and local culture.

"I don't want my people to become 'performers'. The Hani people were born to continue the history of the terraces," said Zhang Hongzhen, director of the Honghe Hani Terraces Protection Bureau.