Laohuzui Rice Terraces in Yuanyang County,Honghe
Chinese Name: 老虎嘴梯田
Chinese Pinyin: Lao Hu Zui Ti Tian
English Name: Laohuzui Rice Terraces
Type: Rice Terrace, World Heritage Site
Rice Terraces Area: 460 hectare
Best Season: November to the Next March
Popular Activities: Photography, Sunset
Recommended Visiting Hours: 2~3 hours
Open Hours: 08:00~Sunset
Tickets: 100 Yuan for Yuanyang Rice Terraces including four spots Laohuzui, Bada, Duoyishu, Jingkou Folk Village
Location: 20 km from Xinjie Town of Yuanyang County
Introduction
Laohuzui（Tiger Mouth）Rice Terraces scenic area mainly consists of Mengpin Village, Dongfu Village, Amengkong Village, Baoshan Village and etc. It got the name due to its shape. The zigzag highway traverses the cliff of the mountainside, and beats away a breach at one corner, which presents an image of tiger mouth.
With the precipitous gradient and the grandest layout, the Terraces are featured by the strong gradation and the wonderful color. Between two mountains is the whole valley and the gradient is above 70 degrees. Under the villages are green hills and trees, running water and villages. Layers of terraces vertically drop into river valley, which is pretty grand.
What’s more, it is the best place to enjoy natural landscape, manners and customs of of Yi people.
Why Visit Laohuzui Rice Terraces?
Laohuzui Rice Terraces, also called Tiger Month Rice Terraces or Mengpin Rice Terraces, is core area of Cultural Landscape of Honghe Hani Rice Terraces, the 45th World Heritage Site of China which announced by UNESCO in 2013.
With an area of 460 hectare, Laohuzui Rice Terraces consists of Mengpin Village, Dongfu Village, Baoshanzhai Village, Amengkong Village, etc. It is the steepest, the grandest, the most magnificent Rice Terrace among all the rice terraces of Yuanyang. Besides, it has strong layering, three-dimensional sense, contrast color, making Laohuzui Rice Terrace a beautiful Chinese painting. Laohuzui Rice Terraces is the best site for SUNSET.
Recent news: Due to the collapse caused by the sudden mud-rock flow and heavy rain in Yuanyang, the Tiger Mouth Rice Terraces is temporarily closed. At present, Duoyishu scenic area and Bada scenic area are still opening to the public. We will update the news once we get the official notice of the reopening of the Tiger Mouth Rice Terraces.
Main Attractions in Laohuzui Rice Terraces
Mengpin Village (勐品村)
Mengpin Village is in a mountain area. Planting, cultivation and tourism are characteristic industries there. Natural beauty, rural custom and terraces make there a fantastic picture.
Amengkong Village (阿勐控)
Looking to the west, you will see three mountains of backbone in which more than 2000 mu terraces of Amengkong stretch from the South to the West. Suddenly high or low, suddenly big or small, suddenly bending or straightening, terraces are like big dragons waving in the sunset.
Baoshan Village (保山寨)
Terraces of Baoshan Village has one of the best beauties of lines, figures and stereoscopy.
Laohuzui Rice Terraces Sunset
Many photographers said that Laohuzui Rice Terraces has the most magnificent rural scenery. So, many travelers from home and abroad head to the remote Yuanyang for the most spectacular rice terrace scenery.
Standing on the top of Laohuzui Rice Terraces, travelers can have panoramic view of the rice paddies which presents you a blooming white flower in front of you. When the sun goes down and the light gets dim, the whole rice terraces is turning into blue as clear and bright as mirrors, and then turning into golden. When the sunglow shows, the rice paddies is turning into pink, rosy, dark red…Different color changes in a very short time and Laohuzui Rice Terraces shows you amazing rice paddies like magic.
Best Spot to View & Shoot Sunset
Viewing Decks
There are two viewing decks of Laohuzui Rice Terraces, one is located at a higher location near the road and one is located in the middle of the hill. Travelers standing at the higher viewing deck can have panoramic view of the whole Laohuzui Rice Terraces and travelers getting down to the lower viewing deck can shoot the essence of Loahuzui – sometimes like two horses galloping quickly, sometimes like millions of snakes wriggling, sometimes like a white flower blooming…
The sun goes down during 18:00~20:00 in Laohuzui Rice Terraces. In the spring time (March to May), it is usually during 19:10~19:50, in summer (June to August) at 19:25~19:57, in autumn (September to November) at 18:20~19:26 and in winter (December to February) at 18:20~19:11. If you are professional photographers, you’d better get to Bada Rice Terraces before 16:00 to find a good location (lower viewing deck is recommended) for some great pictures with rice terraces, sea of clouds and sunset.
The Best Time to Visit Laohuzui Rice Terraces
The best moment to enjoy the marvelous rice terraces view is the sunset period. In addition, the sunrise and cloud sea in Laohuzui are also very beautiful.
From November to April, the terraces are in irrigation period. Most amazing pictures on the Internet are shooted at that time. In May, the Laohuzui rice fields turn into green from yellow, right after the farmers did the rice seedlings at the end of spring.
Location & Transportation
Laohuzui Rice Terraces is about 20 kilometers from Xinjie Town (the old town of Yuanyang), 50 kilometers from Nansha Town (the new town of Yuanyang) and about 375 kilometers from Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province. To reach Laohuzui Rice Terraces, travelers can take long distance buses to Xinjie Town or Nansha Town first and then take local minibus to this rice terraces.
Distances from Other Scenic Spots of Yuanyang
● About 5 kilometers from Bada Rice Terrace
● About 7.2 kilometers from Duoyishu Rice Terrace
● About 4.8 kilometers from Jingkou Folk Village
How to Get there?
Kunming to Yuanyang: From Kunming South Bus Station, there are direct long distance buses to Yuanyang Xinjie Town, running schedules around 10:20, 13:30, 19:30 and 20:00. There are buses at 09:05, 12:30 and 18:30 from Yuanyang Xinjie Town to Kunming. It takes about 7 hours between Kunming and Yuanyang.
Nansha Town/Xinjie Town to Bada Rice Terraces: Travelers may take long distance buses to Nansha Town or Xinjie Town from Kunming, Jianshui, and no matter which station you arrive at, travelers can take local minibus to Laohuzui Rice Terraces. It takes about 1 hour from Nansha Town to Xinjie Town and 30 minutes from Xinjie Town to Laohuzui Rice Terraces. (Please Note: It is recommended to use our private car service to reach several rice terraces including Laohuzui Rice Terrace. If you are an independent traveler, you can try to hire a local minibus to cover all the highlighted rice terraces in one day which costs around 300 Yuan per day.)
Recommended Visiting Routes
It is better to arrange two or three hours to visit Laohuzui Rice Terraces. We provide tourists with some tour routes to choose.
1. Kunming-Yuanyang(Xinjie Town)-Laohuzhui Rice Terraces
Kunming South Passenger Station: departing for Yuanyang, Xinjie Twon, at 10:20/12:30/19:00 every day, CNY 139 per, lasting 5 to 6 hours. Then you can rent a car to reach Laohuzui Rice Terraces, CNY 5~10 yuan per.
Take a chartered car: CNY 300 a day to visit around Yuanyang Rice Terraces, and about CNY 100 to get to Laohuzui Rice Terraces.
2. Kunming-Nansa County-Xinjie Town-Laohuzhui Rice Terraces
Take the regular bus from Kunming to Nansha county, then take the mini bus to Xinjie town(CNY 10 per, departing from 7:00~20:00). From Xinjie town to the entrance of the Yuanyang Hani Rice Terraces or from the entrance to each scenic spot, you can rent a car to go, CNY 5~10 per.
3. Kunming – Jianshui/Gejiu – Yuanyang
Kunming East Passenger Station: leaving for Jianshui or Gejiu and costing CNY 85 per and 3 or 4 hours and a half. And train from Kunming to Jianshui is also available. Then you can take a regular bus to Yuanyang, CNY 16-32 per.
Other Tour Routes
1 Day Yuanyang Hani Rice Terraces Hiking Tour from Duoyishu to Laohuzui
6 Days Kunming Yuanyang Jianshui Photography Tour with Honghe Hani Rice Terraces
10 Days Southeast Yunnan Family Tour with Ethnic Culture, Rice Terraces, Mushroom House & Butterfly Valley
Travel Tips
1. Hani Ethnic Festivals & Traditions
Hani people would celebrate some traditional festivals, like Hani New Year, Kuzhazha Festival, etc.
Hani New Year is like the Spring Festival of Han. It takes place in the first Dragon Day of the 10th lunar month each year and lasts 5 to 6 days and even as long as 13 days. Every family would prepare chicken, pork to worship their ancestors and family members gather together to enjoy the union. In the last day of the New Year, a Long Table Banquet will be arranged and tables will be laid in the street which can extend to one kilometer long. Each family will serve the most sumptuous dishes to fill up a table and enjoy the banquet together.
Kuzhazha Festival takes place from lunar June 23 to 26 and every family makes sticky rice, sets the feast, makes fresh rice and worships the ancestor.
2. Tickets
Ticket One: It is valid for 3 days. It is 100 Yuan for per person, including four scenic spots Jingkou Folk Village, Bada Rice Terraces, Duoyishu Rice Terraces and Laohuzui Rice Terraces (Tiger Mouth Rice Terraces).
Ticket Two: It is valid for 10 days. It is 180 Yuan for per person, including four scenic spots Jingkou Folk Village, Bada Rice Terraces, Duoyishu Rice Terraces and Laohuzui Rice Terraces (Tiger Mouth Rice Terraces).
Ticket Three: It belongs to annual ticket which is valid for one year. It is about 360 Yuan per person, including four scenic spots Jingkou Folk Village, Bada Rice Terraces, Duoyishu Rice Terraces and Laohuzui Rice Terraces (Tiger Mouth Rice Terraces).
3. Accommodation
There is one 3-star hotel called Yuanyang Yunti Hotel in Xinjie Town and travelers are recommended to spend your night there. Besides, there are many hostels in Xinjie Town and other scenic areas and if you want to find a hostel with basic facilities close to the scenic area, you’ve got a lot of choice.
4. Two Spots to Shoot Sunset
Laohuzui Rice Terraces has two viewing areas, one high up near the access road that has recently been enclosed by a 200-meter fence. The upper area is easy to become a noisy traffic jam before sunset, when tour buses, private cars and trucks clog the narrow road outside the other upper viewing area.
No matter which platform you choose, it is advisable to show up for at least an hour before sunset to get a good spot. There is also a lower area that can be reached after walking down a set of switchbacks. You may want to skip the lower platform if you have bad knees as the climb back up is fairly strenuous.
Other Travel tips
The visitors usually set off to Laohuzui Rice Terraces after 4:30 pm, you can check out the time of sunset on the Internet or ask the local people.
The weather forecast of Yuanyang on the Internet may be not exact because the weather of the rice terraces area is always changeable and unpredictable.
The temperature here varies greatly between day and night. Please pay attention to keep warm especially in early morning or at night.
