Yuanyang County (Chinese: 元阳县; pinyin: Yuányáng Xiàn; Hani: Yeiqyaq) is located in Honghe Prefecture, Yunnan province, China. It is well known for its spectacular rice-paddy terracing.

It covers an area of 2200 square kilometres and has a population of approximately 365,000 (2002), of which 88% belong to ethnic minorities and 95% is associated with agriculture. The GDP of Yuanyang county in 2002 was 630 million Yuan. The administrative seat of the county is the town of Nansha (a.k.a. New Yuanyang) down in the Red River valley at an elevation of 240 meters. It is situated 12 km towards the north-east of the former administrative seat Xinjie (a.k.a. Old Yuanyang or just Yuanyang) to which it is connected by a 27 km long twisting mountain road. To the south of Old Yuanyang, the town of Panzhihua is positioned near the top of another major valley of rice-terraces. There are a total of 928 settlements in Yuanyang county, 826 of them being inhabited by only one single ethnic group.

Learn more about Yuanyang County here and here...

The Longsheng Rice Terraces (Chinese: 龙胜梯田; Pinyin: Lóngshèng Tītián) are located in Longsheng County about 100km (2 hours drive) from Guilin. The most popular rice terraces are: PingAn Rice Terrace and Jinkeng Rice Terrace.
Panorama of the Longji terrace, one of the Longsheng Rice Terraces.

The terraced fields are built along the slope winding from the riverside up to the mountain top, the highest part being 880 m in elevation while the lowest part 380 m in elevation. The coiling line that starts from the mountain foot to up to the mountain top divides the mountain into layers of water glittering in the sun in spring, layers of green rice shoots in summer, layers of golden rice in fall, and layers of silvery frost in winter. The terraced fields were mostly built during the Ming Dynasty about 500 years ago.

The best time for a good photo is in early June, when the paddies are pumping with water, the villages are transfering young plant of rice from the seed bed to large areas of rice terrace.

Learn more about Longsheng Rice Terraces here and here...