Longji Terraced Rice Fields

The Longji Terraced Rice Fields have been a visitors' favorite and one of the must-see sites for any Guilin tour due to its unique beauty. It is a stunning location populated with Chinese Ethnic Minority Groups. The Zhuang, Dong, and Yao Minority Groups live in the area and their ancient cultures have taken on aspects of the other groups' traditions, making it a truly unique place.
Thousands of years ago, members of the Zhuang Dong, and Yao Minority Groups fled up into the mountains to avoid persecution. Being agrarian societies, and knowing no other way of life, they turned the mountains themselves into fields. The entire mountain range, which is quite large, has been turned into terraced fields, making it one of the most picturesque places on earth.
In June of 2011, a new section of the mountain range has been opened to the public and http://www.accesschinatravel.com/ was invited for the opening ceremonies. It has existed for thousands of years, but had no large road leading into the area, so few visitors have ever made it there. A new road has been built up the mountain to reach the area and open it to visitors. Access China Travel was there for the opening ceremony. It was overcast and rainy, but that in no way dampened our spirits, because the rain and low hanging clouds added so much beauty to the site. I have found that no matter what the season or weather, every visit to Longji seems to be more beautiful than the one before. The fields still did not have rice in them yet, so each one looked like a mirror reflecting the clouds. It really added to the atmosphere.

The newly opened section has a single large village located on the mountainside. Because it was built on the mountainside, each house was built at a different level with a labyrinth of paths, stairs, and ramps between them. The ancient houses with their grey tile roofs seem to be a part of the mountain. The village was really wonderful. The locals were all of the Zhuang Ethnic Minority and most of them wore their traditional clothing. There were children running around and the little shops were a lot of fun to look into. The locals were very friendly and always said “Nihao” as I passed by. The houses were made entirely of wood and no metal fasteners were used in their construction. They were held together by gravity and by tongue and groove construction. A couple of houses were being built and it was very interesting to see their skeletons. The ground floor was for storage and livestock. The second floor was where the activity and storage rooms were, and the third floor held the bedrooms. The main room of the house, where the family cooked and spent their time was centered on an open hearth. It was a large stone inlaid into the floor, where fires were lit. The food was cooked over the fire in woks sitting on stands that held them over the fire. Above the fire was a large basket which was used to catch the smoke to keep the soot from turning the whole house black.
Exploring the village was a lot of fun. Vital to every Chinese village is a water source, and this village’s is in the form of a stream that flows down the mountain from a natural spring. It flowed under, around, and through houses. The water is used for cooking, bathing, cleaning, and also to power water wheels which were used to power many different wooden machines. The water powered machines were really cool. I saw two in operation. One was a grinding wheel which was used to grind rice. The other machine pounded rice. The grinding wheel worked off of wooden gears which were connected to a water wheel. The machine to pound the rice into a paste was a lever. One end had a head to smash the rice and the other end had a carved out area to catch water. Water would fill the one end and it would cause the head to rise until the water ran out and then the head would fall.
After exploring the village, we ate dinner in a large building. The food was simple, yet truly delicious. All the ingredients were grown right in the village. After we finished eating, we headed back to the main entrance gate by passing through the rice fields. The fields are really works of art. Each rice field is flooded with water for much of the growing season and the water is kept in each one by a retaining wall built of mud. Each retaining wall has a notch in it to allow water to flow down into the next field, making little waterfalls all over the mountain. The fields, traditionally, were plowed by ox, unless the family could not afford one. Then the fields were plowed by the farmer and his wife. The wife would pull the plow while the man pushed. They had a pole between them which the man pushed on to help his wife pull the plow. We saw this being demonstrated. Now, many farmers use gasoline powered machines to pull their plows. When a field did not connect to a lower one, a primitive aqueduct was made of bamboo. A length of bamboo would be split down the middle, then the internal dividers would be chiseled out and this would be used to channel water from one field to another.
Longji’s beauty is indescribable. It really has to be seen to be fully appreciated. The terraced rice fields look incredible no matter which season they are visited during. Each one is more beautiful than the last. They should be added to any Guilin Tour.

To see more photos of the Longji Terraced Rice Fields:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/62438483@N02/sets/72157626958892898/

The Liu Sanjie Tea Plantation

In Guilin there is a tea plantation named Liu Sanjie Tea Plantation. It is located between Guilin and the Longji Rice Terraces. We wanted to visit it and see if it was worth adding to our itineraries, so all of us at http://www.accesschinatravel.com/ spent an afternoon there. It certainly was a lot of fun and very beautiful. They produce mainly green teas and have a little tea shop where you can sample them.

The entrance to the plantation is quite impressive. It has a couple of traditional style Chinese buildings which are backed up to a hill. There is a stone gate which leads to a path up the hill which has a gigantic teapot pouring water. There are tea trees on the hill. near the top of the hill is a little pavilion where people can stop to have some tea. From the top of the hill you can look over the plantation and the millions of tea trees it has. The guide will describe a bit about Chinese tea and the varities produced. You then continue along the path past tea trees and tea pavilions.

You then come upon a round hill that is topped with a pavilion for frying the freshly picked tea leaves. Frying is one of the first step of processing Chinese tea. We then walked around the plantation taking photos. It really is a beautiful place. After taking photos for a while, we went back down to the entrance to try their teas in their little shop. It was nice to relax a bit after hiking around the plantation.

To See more photos of the Liu Sanjie Tea Plantation,

visit our Flickr photo album.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/62438483@N02/sets/72157626660038013/

Guilin's Seven Star Park

Seven Star Park in Guilin is a really great place to spend a few hours. It is Guilin's largest park and has a little bit of everything. We enjoy visiting the park and the marketing department at http://www.accesschinatravel decided to go there for an afternoon. It is a lot of fun.

The park got its name from the seven mountain peaks located inside of it. The peaks, it is said, are in the same shape as the Big Dipper constellation. I am not sure if that is true or not, but it is a nice story. The park is bordered by the mountains, making it quite beautiful. The mountains are full of caves and covered with trees and bamboos. There are paths up the mountains with pavilions scattered here and there. It is a lot of fun to sit in one of the pavilions and enjoy the views of the park and of Guilin. We like to bring a picnic and have it in one of the pavilions.


The park is dotted with places of interest. There is a very large Buddhist Temple built in the style of the Tang Dynasty, and a mosque. A children's area is located in the park where children can ride the rides and play games. There is also a zoo and a large waterfall area. The park is large and offers visitors a lot of places to sit and just enjoy the beautiful scenery. There are a lot of areas of historical interest too. One section of the park is filled with stone lions stele, and ancient stone gates that have been excavated from throughout Guilin. There also a cave that is filled with ancient calligraphy and carvings in the rock.


Living in the park are several monkey families and the have free reign in the park and can often be found on the fringes enjoying snacks thrown to them from visitors. They are not tame, so should not be approached too closely. Even so, they are a lot of fun to watch and you never know, when strolling down a path when you will come across one and it is a lot of fun.

To see our photo album of Seven Star Park click here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/62438483@N02/sets/72157626623701289/