Vision from yesteryear
The owner recommended that I take a day trip with a local guy who had a van.
This is a very popular activity for tourists who want to see many different landscapes in a short time, especially where public transport is not available.
The driver/tour guide first took me to a centuries-old village. It was a very small settlement with only three roads. Most of the houses were made of rough-hewn stone and wood. Because of the damp, people kept their chickens and pigs on the ground floor of their homes and lived on the second floor.
Walking through the narrow alleyways, I could feel that time had marked itself on the mossy dark stones, and the wooden rails had been polished to the point they shone by hands sliding on them millions of times.
The houses' windows were small and the rooms were very dark. The village was not connected to the electrical grid, so people still used kerosene lamps that hung from their doors.
It could have been a scene from hundreds of years ago: Bent and wrinkled elders dressed in traditional- Hani -clothing sat in front of their homes, warmed by the sunshine and occasionally cracked a kindly smile. If their health allowed, they were still working, either in the fields or in the yard. I saw a grandma that must have been 80 years old carrying a huge bundle of firewood on her very bent back. Her small body was almost buried among the branches so I could hardly see her from the back.
The peace was sometimes broken by sudden sound of laughing and shouting from the young kids running by. The children ranged from toddlers to teenagers, playing and chasing with no fear of -strangers.
They said hello to me and when I said hello back, their innocent faces broke into giggles.
I didn't spot many adults, a telltale sign that the modern world was encroaching on the village.
The driver told me most villagers of working age had gone to cities to look for better paying jobs.
I was absolutely amazed by their public toilet. Inside a small shed, one's leavings drop through a hole into a fast-flowing stream a few meters below. The breeze accompanying the river whisked away both the waste and the smell, taking the feces into the fields and fertilizing the village's crops.
This ecosystem showcases how clever humans can be to make the best use of limited resources.-
I can say that listening to the murmuring of the river and looking out over the terraces while doing my business was one of the best toilet experiences I've ever had.
Field of stars
After 9 o'clock in the evening, the whole mountain area had no electric lights and fell into total darkness. This gave me my first ever chance to see the entire Milky Way shining across a navy sky carpeted with millions of stars. This spectacular view of the universe made me, a girl who had spent her whole life living in the city, break into tears.
The number of tourists heading to the area is increasing these days thanks to the recent completion of a highway to the county from Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province. Many local residents have turned their homes into hotels and restaurants or started offering services to visitors.
However, if less people do -traditional farm work, who will put in the hard work of maintaining the area's thousands- of paddies, which bring -tourists in the first place?
Rules of thumb
When to go:
The best time of year to head to Yuanyang is from November to March (spring and winter). In the spring, flowers -blossom and the -terraces are full of color.
In the winter, the crops have been -harvested and the paddies are filled with water. It makes the layers of terrace very distinctive and reflects more sunlight.
Where to go:
There are four main scenic spots to take photos of the rice terraces in Yuanyang county. Be prepared though as they are far from each other. The best way to see them is to rent a car with a local driver for a one day trip package for around 500 yuan ($73).
