Laohuzui Rice Terraces (Mengpin Rice Terraces)

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.

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

Yuanyang Laohuzui Rice Terraces

Transfer to/off Laohuzui Rice Terraces

● 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.)

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.

Laohuzui Rice Terraces Sunset

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.

Laohuzui Rice Terraces

Recommended Visiting Route in Yuanyang

It is better to arrange three days in Yuanyang to visit several scenic spots of Yuanyang Rice Terraces including Bada Rice Terraces, Duoyishu Rice Terraces, Laohuzui Rice Terraces and Jingkou Folk Villages, Hani Ethnic Market in Shengcun, etc. For most travelers, you arrange your schedules as following:

Day 1: Arrive in Yuanyang in the morning or at noon and first pay a visit to Jinkou Folk Village, and then view the rice paddies on the road to Laohuzui (Tiger Month) Rice Terrace, shoot the amazing Sunset of Laohuzui Rice Terraces. Get back to your hotel in Xinjie Old Town or Duoyishu Rice Terraces.

Day 2: Get up early in the morning and reach the viewing platform of Duoyishu Rice Terraces and watch the sunrise over the villages and have a walk around Duoyishu Rice Terraces like Huangcaoling Spot. Head to Shengcun to attend the Hani ethnic market to explore authentic local life of Hani people. Later, get to Bada Rice Terraces to catch the sea of clouds and sunset view. After the amazing day, get back to your hotel in Xinjin Old Town.

Day 3: In this morning, have a walk to get into Longshuba Rice Terraces and some local villages nearby. After the tour, get back to Kunming from Yuanyang.

>> 4 Days Yuanyang Rice Terrace Photography Tour (Kunming / Yuanyang / Kunming)

Bada Rice Terraces

Hani People working in the fields

Useful Travel Tips

Best Time to Visit Bada Rice Terraces

Travelers can come all the year round and for photographers, the best time is from November to March of next year.

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.

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).

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.