Malizhai Village in Yuanyang County, Honghe
Chinese Name: 元阳麻栗寨
Keywords: Terraces, Hani festivals, cloud sea, tea planting
Location: 53 kilometers far from Nanshan of Yuanyang County
Admission Fee:￥0
Opening Hours: All day long
‣ About Bada Rice Terraces
The Mali Village (麻栗寨) is located in the Honghe Autonomous Prefecture of Hani and Yi Nationalities, Yunnan. Mali Village boasts the large scale of terrace field, mysterious cloud sea and architecture of Hani nationality. The high altitude of Mali Village is very suitable for planting tea. In the plateau, plenty of sunshine, suitable temperature and rain furnish tea. Therefore, tea planted there is in top quality.
‣ Highlights
Culture
The local people of Mali Village are Hani nationality. Hani people have their own festival.
Kuzhazha（苦扎扎节）
When it is June 24th of Chinese lunar year, there is a day called Kuzhazha. At that day, the whole village kills the cattle to hold a memorial ceremony for their ancestors. The youth will have wrestling matches, hunting and singing.
Zhalete（扎勒特节）
The most important festival of Hani is the Zhalete, which means the New Year in October. On the big day, the villagers will kill pigs and then every family will take out the most delicious dish to sacrifice to ancestors. When the festival is coming to the end, every village will hold a “Dragon Feast” in the center of the village because the desks will be put together as long as a dragon.
Girl’s Day(姑娘节)
There is an interesting day in Hani culture called Girl’s Day(姑娘节). At that day, the man in the family will carry water with a shoulder pole and two buckets in the early morning. When the sky turns bright, they will cut a bundle of firewood and do all the things women do every day. And women just enjoy themselves on the day. After lunchtime, men will go to the market and dress up as women to dance to amuse girls.
There is a legend of the festival. In ancient time, the marriage of a girl was decided by parents. A girl named Youma fell in love with a boy named Xiaqi. Youma’s parents decided to betroth their daughter to the sun of Bai Tusi, an officer of Bai nationality. Youma was so heart-broken that she decided to commit a suicide.
One day she went up a mountain to cut the firewood and met another three girls. Youma found they were facing the same situation as her. Eventually, they were all sorrowful and jumped from the cliff to death. Then the Hani people thought they should give girls more right to choose who they love. In order to memorize the dead, they set February 4th of every Chinese lunar year as the Girl’s Day to respect the women and their right to choose love.
Yuanyang Terrace
Mali Village is famous for the colorful terraces in such a high altitude. Visitors can stand on the high position to take a bird-eye view of the large scale of the terrace field. The terrace is like mirrors on the mountain when reflecting the sunshine. Especially after 4 o’ clock in the afternoon, with the sunset dipping below the horizon, the surfaces of the terrace turn into pink, red and again pink, finally white. It is a good place to go hiking and take photographs.
Cloud Sea
It is situated on the plateau of an altitude of 1, 600m; the cloud twines among the mountains for over 200 days in a year. The Mali Village is absolutely the holy land to the shutterbug. In the morning and afternoon, sometimes there will even be three layers of cloud.
‣ Food and living
Xiaoyu’s Restaurant is famous in Yuanyang. Visitors can have meals and live in the Xiaoyu’s Hostel.
‣ Attraction Transportation
Kunming-Yuanyang
Visitors can take the schedule bus to Yuanyang in Kunming South Passenger Station: departingat 10:20/12:30/19:00 every day, CNY 139 per, and lasting 5 to 6 hours.
Jianshui– Yuanyang
It just takes 2 hours to arrive at Yuanyang by a scheduled bus from Jianshui.
Attraction Travel Tips:
Yuanyang is located on the plateau of an altitude of over 1, 600m, therefore, the weather might be cold. Please prepare warm clothes.
The temperature here varies greatly between day and night. Please pay attention to keep warm especially in early morning and at night.
The Location of Malizhai Village in Yuanyang County, Honghe
