Why go
The Yao and Zhuang villagers began cutting these terraces 800 years ago and kept cutting until they covered the whole mountainside — the highest tiers sit 800 metres above the valley. The engineering is invisible until you see the ridges from across the valley: layer after layer of mirrored water or gold.
There are two main clusters: Ping'an (older, more famous, easier paths) and Jinkeng/Dazhai (larger, more dramatic, more walking). Both reward the visitor who stays the night.
- The Ping'an village terraces — the classic 'Seven Stars with the Moon' view
- The Dazhai/Jinkeng terraces — bigger and more dramatic
- Rice-planting season (May–Jun) when the terraces flood with light
- Autumn harvest (late Sep–Oct) when the paddies turn gold
Practical tips
The terraces change character with the season — flooded in spring, green in summer, gold at harvest, occasionally snow-dusted in winter. Walking between villages takes 2–3 hours on stone paths; hire a local porter for bags. The viewpoint huts charge a small fee.
Nearby
Longji combines with the Li River and Yangshuo for a classic Guangxi week. Guilin is the base; book the direct tourist bus for the terraces.
Getting there
- Bus from Guilin (~2h) to the Longji ticket gate, then shuttle to the villages
- Age
- 800 years
- Area
- 66 km² of terraces
- People
- Yao and Zhuang villages
