Dazhai Things to Do Tips by myspices

Well, you main purpose of coming here is to see the rice terrraces....you got it....all around you! Dazhai is part of the famous Longi Titian (means Dragon's Backbone Rice Terrraces), the other being in PingAn, slightly down south (together with some of the other smaller villages). It is said that the higest terrace is of 1180m high and the lowest is about 380m. Both in Dazhai and PingAn, you will be able to see some of the most spectacular views of these rice terraces - but like i have said, Dazhai has a better atmosphere - less touristy and so you get to "secretly" breathe in and admire .......

Besides the "Seven Stars and Moon" rice terraces, there are 3 other vantage points to view the rice terraces. There are termed as Vantage Points 1, 2 and 3. If you are not an "expert" in rice terraces, well, they might as well be the same for all the three points. You can just feel the same "awesomeness" for the 3 views that you see.

Rice terraces are terraces formed by cutting "steps" along the contours of hills and does making the hills into cones with staggered little, little steps. Previously, bamboo tubes were used to direct water from falls and rivers/streams to irrigate the rice fields but now with modern technology and so said our guide, Mrs Pan, the government has build a dam/reservoir to irrigate fields via pipes. The Longi Titian is about 700years old, said to be much older than those in Bananue, Philippines. I find them to be more extensive and higher as compared to Bananue's.

See more pics attached...well don't ask me which Viewpoint is it...i am really not an expert on rice terraces to notice the difference, except maybe the "Seven Stars and Moon" which is quite distinct as there are 7 clusters of hills with the so called "moon" within.....

See Travelogue on "All About Rice Terraces" for better views..

Leave a Comment

Address: Dazhai village, Jingkeng, Longsheng
Directions: Ask the lodge, all will be able to tell you specifically where these points are. Better still get a guide to take you. Guide fee is pretty cheap (less than 100yuan for the whole day).

Stay way up in one of those lodges stashed against the rice terraces. It really brings out the difference. Hang out in the balcony at night or early a.m for meals or a drink - air is cooling and refreshing. Wow! at night it's even more exciting - strong winds howl like it is about to rain but it does not happen. No wonder they provide thick blankets ! It's so cold! If you happen to have a room next to rice terraces...open your window at night to be enchanted with the stars above and again open your window in early a.m.....rice terraces beyond you....

There are many such lodges in Dazhai village. We stayed in one called the Tian Ti - read more under Accomodation if you are interested.

Leave a Comment

Address: Dazhai village, Jingkeng, Longsheng
Directions: Upon arrival at Dazhai bus stop, hike up 40mins ... there are lots of lodges along the way, even at the base of the bus stop.

One of the things to do is to trek down to touristy PingAn - just to check the difference.. We started at 8am. We had Mrs Pan, our guide of 65years old (boy!she's strong!) . The trek is 4hours, oneway. Mrs Pan explained that the pathway of stones/slabs along contours of rice fields were laid by their forefathers. The stones were painfully taken from other areas to create an easier walkway (pic attached). The rice fields were cut, by none other than their ancestors...who were without proper tools then. All the rice fields were "demarcated" to different families. Harvest is done once a year, in Oct.
We passed by reservoirs, streams, little falls and small villages like Zhongliu. We saw ancestral stone tablets along the way, farmers at work, Hong Yao (Red Yao) ladies busy with their sewing at viewpoints, red chillies and corns being dried, farm animals like buffaloes, goats, horses, donkeys and lean looking dogs. We met locals and chat with them. There were Red Yaos ladies offering to show you their long hair - avoid as they will charge. Finally, from the top, we saw the town of PingAn - a cluster of lodges right in the deep of the valley! . Tourists were making their ways to Viewpoints of PingAn to see the PingAn's "Seven Stars and Moon", "Nine Dragons and Five Tigers"...and many more flowery named sites. We had our lunch at about 12.30pm. There were many stalls lined up selling all kinds - you will never be out of souveniers to buy! At certain stations, locals dressed in traditional wears invite to take a pic with rice fields as backdrop. The charge is about 20-50yuan.
It was an interesting trek - a fun filled one, especially with Mrs Pan - she's a gem! She even packed a little orange for me to quench my thirst! We decided to take a bus back from PingAn to Dazhai, which we initially was so ambitious, wanting to hike back up to Dazhai from PingAn! The heart is really willing but my feet say "No".......

See more pics of trek in travelogue entitled "Trek, trek...to PingAn" and enjoy!

Leave a Comment

Address: Dazhai to PingAn
Directions: Get a guide! (less than 100yuan per day)

If you are lucky, you can catch the sunrise - which i believed will enhanced the golden fields. We got up early the next morning (about 5.45am) to catch the sunrise at one of the Viewpoints. It's only about 15 minutes away from our lodge. Too bad, as the night before was slightly chilly and damp - the sky was kinda misty and the clouds have shy away the sun.....no sunrise but a great breath of fresh air. We saw many arts students, trying to capture the spectacular rice terraces on paper.

Leave a Comment

When you are high up in Dazhai - look beyond - you might find a beautiful sight of "interlocking hills". Well, I assure you the scene in sight is more beautiful than what the camera can capture!

Leave a Comment

Address: Dazhai hill top
Directions: high lands and look beyond