The Earth's Fingerprints: Witnessing the Largest Contiguous Hani Rice Terraces at Samaba

The "Fingerprints of the Earth"

1.Located in Baohua: Town, Honghe County, within the Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture of Yunnan Province, the Samaba Rice Terraces (Samaba Titian) represent a monumental feat of agricultural engineering and natural beauty. Unlike other terrace clusters that might be fragmented by hills or trees, Samaba is renowned for its sheer continuity. It covers an area of over 14,000 mu (approximately 933 hectares), with more than 4,300 individual tiers spanning an altitude range from 600 meters to 1,800 meters. This vast expanse connects hills, valleys, and clouds into a single, unbroken landscape, earning it the reputation of being the "Largest Contiguous Rice Terrace in China." From the viewing platform, the terraces look like the intricate fingerprints of the earth itself, a breathtaking sight that showcases the harmony between human perseverance and nature's grandeur.

A Masterpiece of the Hani People

2.The history of: Samaba dates back over 1,300 years to the Tang Dynasty, when the ancestors of the Hani people migrated south to the Ailao Mountains. Facing the challenge of a rugged landscape, they carved out these terraces with primitive tools, creating a sustainable ecosystem known as the "Four Elements in One": Forest, Village, Terrace, and Water. The forests at the mountaintops act as "green reservoirs," collecting water which flows down through the villages to the terraces below, and finally into the river at the valley bottom, only to evaporate and return as rain. This ingenious gravity-fed irrigation system ensures that every tier, from the mountain ridge to the valley floor, receives water without the need for reservoirs, keeping the fields fertile and the ecosystem balanced for over a millennium.

A Landscape of Changing Seasons

3.Samaba Rice: Terraces offer a visual feast that changes dramatically with the seasons. The most popular time for visitors and photographers is from November to April, known as the "Water Season." During this time, the harvested fields are flooded, transforming the thousands of tiers into a mosaic of mirrors that reflect the blue sky, white clouds, and the shifting colors of the sunrise and sunset. In spring and summer (May to July), the terraces turn into a vibrant sea of green as the rice seedlings grow. By autumn (August to September), the landscape shifts again into a golden ocean of ripening grain, filling the air with the scent of harvest. The winter months often bring the famous "Sea of Clouds," where the lower terraces are shrouded in mist, creating a mystical, dreamlike atmosphere where villages appear to float in the sky.

Culture and Community

The terraces are not just a scenic spot but a living cultural heritage site, forming a core part of the UNESCO World Heritage Honghe Hani Rice Terraces. Within this landscape lies Duoyishu Village (distinct from the Yuanyang Duoyishu), a traditional Hani settlement nestled among the fields. Here, visitors can observe the authentic lifestyle of the Hani people, who live in harmony with the land. The architecture features traditional mushroom-shaped houses, and the villagers maintain ancient customs such as the "Angmatu" (Village God Festival) and the Long Street Banquet. Walking through the narrow paths between the fields allows travelers to witness the symbiotic relationship between the villagers and their environment, seeing water buffalo plowing the mud and farmers tending to the crops just as they have for centuries.