Tradition on the terraces

"The rice-planting season begins!" the village head shouted, signaling villagers to start sowing and raising rice seedlings.

Jiabang is known for some of China's most picturesque terraced landscapes. Surrounded by high mountains, steep slopes and deep valleys, its rice paddies curve with the land and weave through Miao villages scattered across the hillsides.

The rugged terrain means each terrace is usually no larger than about one mu, or one-fifteenth of a hectare. Many plots are so small that they are said to hold only one or two rows of rice, prompting locals to joke that "even a frog can jump across three fields".

|<< Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Next   >>|