And Ping’An finally revealed itself to us in its full rice terrace glory. The heavy clouds and mist finally lifted and we were left with breathtaking views over some of the worlds most magnificent rice terraces.
We couldn’t believe our eyes when we woke up and looked out of the window … there they were: the reason for why we flew 2.5 hours and drove another 3 hours in a car … Ping’An’s rice terraces. We even finally got to see how high up in the mountains we actually were and how small the village was that we were staying in. Did the exact same walk that we did on day one … only this time we did it the other way around and we actually got to see what was around us. Saw many people tending their rice fields and filling the individual basins with water. As the rice crop is only planted and harvested once a year in Ping’An, as opposed to twice a year in many other regions, we were there at the right time to see how the water filled terraces reflect the sky and produce a most spectacular scenery. Got to a great vantage point on one of the peeks where we had ice cream and ginger/lemon tea …
Just so that you can see where we actually were: here a picture of the village with the surrounding terraces. I was glad that I had taken my hiking boots, as the village is not accessible by car and you actually need to trek for about 20 minutes from the nearest road to got to it. And thank goodness for that … imagine how horrible the place would be if it were overrun by tourist and you could no longer hear the birds and enjoy the scenery? Next time we’ll try and come in autumn, when everything is golden coloured and the rice is about to be harvested … the perfect retreat to enjoy a more rural China that is absolutely stunning.
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