Yuanyang Rice Terraces
Thousands of narrow paddies stepping down a mountainside, each one holding a piece of the sky.
Where it is
The Yuanyang terraces are in the south of Yunnan, in south-western China, on the slopes of the Ailao Mountains above the Red River. They are the work of the Hani people, who have been cutting paddies into these mountains for well over a thousand years. The terraces were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2013, under the name of the Honghe Hani Rice Terraces.
The system runs from the top of the mountain to the bottom. Forest on the summit catches the mist and holds the water; villages sit just below the forest; and from there the water is led down through the terraces, field by field, to the river in the valley. Some slopes carry several thousand steps.
After the harvest the paddies are kept full of water until the next planting. For those months the mountain is covered in mirrors, and the colour of every field changes with the sky.
The picture course
The painted course is the terraces seen from high above in the water season. Hundreds of thin curved lines, the earth banks between the paddies, follow the shape of the mountain like the lines of a contour map, and the water between them shines in pearl white, pale pink and sky blue. The fairways bend with the contours. Bands of flooded paddies cross in front of several greens, footpaths wind up the ridges, and a wisp of mist lies over one hole. The eighteen holes carry the names of villages and viewpoints of the terrace country, such as Duoyishu, Bada and Laohuzui.
Par 71 over 5,860 m: 5 par threes, 9 par fours and 4 par fives. The front nine is par 36 (2,950 m) and the back nine par 35 (2,910 m). The longest hole is number 12, a par 5 of 505 m; the shortest is number 14, a par 3 of 145 m.
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Par | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 |
| m | 330 | 300 | 165 | 480 | 345 | 155 | 360 | 495 | 320 |
| Hole | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| Par | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 |
| m | 335 | 175 | 505 | 350 | 145 | 370 | 340 | 185 | 505 |
Par and distances are the game's own course data. The pins are real places listed in Wikidata; what is said about them is kept to well-known facts.
Travel notes
The terraces look different in every season: mirrors of water in winter and early spring, bright green after planting, gold before the harvest. Sunrise and sunset are the classic hours, when the low light catches the water, and sea-of-cloud mornings are common in the cold months. The mountains are high, so it is cooler than the latitude suggests.
More courses
Sources: Honghe Hani Rice Terraces · Hani people · Yuanyang County, Yunnan · Ailao Mountains · Wikidata (CC0)