In your trip to Guilin, besides enjoying the beautiful landscapes of the Lijang River, you will have the opportunity to visit other of the most interesting landscapes that you can find in China.
I mean the Longji Rice Terraces, a place that I have signed up for future trip to china.
This promising place is located 108 kilometers north of Guilin, and its terraces date back more than 700 years when, during the dynasty Yuan, the population of the ethnic group zhuang who lived in the area near the town of Longsheng They began to model the mountains into terraces and develop a water irrigation system that would allow rice to be grown.
It is a mountainous area with heights ranging between 380 and 880 meters, and currently occupies 66 square kilometers. The result are some very original and beautiful landscapes that have become one of the China photographic icons.
To be able to visit the famous Longji Rice Terraces, the most recommended starting point is the city of Guilin.
In the hotel where we are staying we will be offered the tour organized by a tourist agency to visit Longji. But we also have the opportunity to visit on our own.
To do this, you must take a bus from Guilin to take you to Longsheng (ticket price, less than two euros), the main town in the area, a journey that will take about two hours due to the state of the road.
In Longshen you must take another local bus that, along a narrow and mountainous road, ends at Ping'an, the main town in the area of the Longji Rice Terraces, which is located on the slope of one of the mountains covered with rice fields.
And from there, it's about walking along the paths that run between the terraces to enjoy the landscapes.
Depending on the time of year you visit, the landscapes will be different. The most recommended is visit the rice terraces from March to NovemberThat is, if you are not unlucky enough that your visit coincides with a recent rice harvest, one of several that take place throughout the year.
As I personally did not have the opportunity to visit the Longji Rice Terraces, I recommend reading (in English) the website of the American traveler and photographer Nick, where he tells us the experiences of your visit, complemented with very beautiful photos.
Of course, it is also an area frequently visited by Spanish travelers. In this regard, I recommend reading the experiences of visiting Longji and Ping'an by María Mercé, on his blog “Travel and Experiences”.And likewise, those of Marian and Caesar, on his blog “Chinese Journey”, and those of José and Sandra, in "José and Sandra in China”.
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