Yunhe Terraced Fields Scenic Area

Introduction to Scenic Spots

National 5A Tourist Attraction

Yunhe Terraced Fields Scenic Area is located in Chongtou Town, Yunhe County, Lishui City, Zhejiang Province, 10 kilometers away from the county seat. It was first developed in the early Tang Dynasty and flourished in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, with a history of more than 1000 years. The total area is 8.02 square kilometers, with an altitude span of 200 meters to over 1400 meters and a vertical height of over 1200 meters. It spans three geological landscape zones of high mountains, hills, and valleys, and has the characteristics of large scale, strong impact, and unique seasonal landscapes. It is the largest terraced field group in East China

Scenic spot address: Chongtou Town, Yunhe County

Admission information: Adult ticket 80 yuan; Drifting adult ticket starts at 100 yuan

Opening hours: 8:00-16:30; Drifting: 8:00-15:00

Traffic Guide: Take the self driving route and get off at the highway exit. Drive along Provincial Highway 53 to the fork in the Longquan direction and follow the signs of Yunhe Terraced Fields Scenic Area straight ahead. Bus Route Yunhe County - Yunhe Bus Station -10- Bus (Yunhe Zhangjiadi every hour from 6:30-17:00)

Introduction Yunhe Terraces were first developed in the early Tang Dynasty and flourished in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties. They have a history of more than 1000 years and a total area of 51 square kilometers. They are mainly distributed in the high mountains around Chongtou Town in Yunhe County, with an altitude span of 200-1400 meters and a vertical height of over 1200 meters. They span three geological landscape zones: mountains, hills, and valleys, with a maximum of more than 700 floors. They are the largest terraced field group in East China and are known as the "most beautiful terraced fields in China". Clouds and terraced fields form a chain like belt, winding up from the foot of the mountain, layer by layer and staggered in height. Their lines are like flowing clouds and water, elegant and smooth, magnificent in scale, and grand in momentum. The majestic atmosphere harmonizes with the delicate and clean dotted lines, forming a charming and elegant curved world with characteristics such as large area, good lines, beautiful shape, and strong three-dimensional sense. Due to their high altitude, the water in the fields and valleys evaporates and rises, forming a sea of clouds under the influence of air currents. The water is fully absorbed by the trees, transforming into clouds, mist, and rain. They reside in the high mountain forests, with white clouds often swirling around the mountaintops and fields, creating a dynamic and layered natural landscape. At the end of spring and beginning of summer, the vast and colorful sea of clouds sometimes resembles a gentle girl lying quietly in the mountains and rivers, exposing her chest, with peaks, trees, and houses dotted among them, like a fairyland in Penglai; Sometimes it's like a raging tide, surging and surging. The majestic clouds and terraced fields float on the vast sea of clouds, creating a unique spectacle. The unique geographical environment of Yunhe Terraced Fields has created a unique natural landscape of terraced fields. At sunrise, the sky is filled with red clouds, rolling clouds and mist, and swaying bamboo shadows, immersing oneself as if entering a paradise on earth; The terraced fields on the slope are shimmering with waves, golden and sparkling, like a series of sky ladders rising straight to the sky, creating a magnificent and breathtaking painting; At sunset, the mountain village, forest, and shepherd boy are draped in golden scarves, with thousands of mountains and valleys, like poetry and painting, leaving people in awe. The landscapes of Yunhe Terraced Fields vary throughout the year: in spring, the fields are filled with water, like strings of silver chains hanging in the mountains; On the summer solstice, the lush greenery blooms like layers of green waves lining the sky; In the golden autumn, the rice ears are heavy, like golden towers topped with jade houses; In the depths of winter, in years of abundant snow, if surrounded by white jade clouds. There are many silver mine sites in Yunhe Terraced Fields during the Ming Dynasty. According to historical records, the mineral deposits in various townships of Lishui County (mainly Yunhe and Xuanping) during the Ming Dynasty were vein shaped, with quartz veins that were dark gray in color or fragmented into angular grains. The number of veins was about 20, and the production state was very irregular, with an average length of 1000 square feet and an average width of 7 square inches. The pit depth ranged from one meter to tens of meters, and the mineral was pyroxene, which crystallized very fine and coexisted with pyrite, as well as secondary natural silver. During the more than 100 years before and after the Jingtai period of the Ming Dynasty, Yunhe extensively mined silver mines. The Ming Dynasty twice dispatched palace officials as imperial envoys to supervise and urge the silver tax, and established a silver official bureau to manage silver mining affairs. The rise of local silver mining industry brought prosperity and development to the population and society, reaching its peak during the Yuan and Ming dynasties, resulting in the continuous expansion of terraced fields. According to the record in Volume 16 of the "Yunhe County Annals" in the third year of the Qing Dynasty's Tongzhi reign, "Before the clouds, the land was vast and the people were sparse, the sky was barren, the grain was cheap and the farmers were injured, and there was a shortage of grain. Since then, the people have become increasingly numerous. Therefore, the land has been cultivated and the land has been cultivated. It can be seen that the history of Yunhe Terraced Fields is closely related to the development history of the local mining industry in the Ming Dynasty. The custom of plowing in Yunhe Terraced Fields has a long history. Historical records show that in the early years, officials from Yunhe Yamen would go to the "Xiannong Altar" in the suburbs every year at the beginning of spring plowing, and the county officials would personally cultivate the land to demonstrate the government's emphasis on agricultural production. In order to express their beautiful and simple wishes, and pray to the gods for the prosperity of livestock and the harvest of crops, the ancestors held the folk activity of plowing. The complete set of rituals established by the custom of plowing in Yunhe Terraces has been preserved to this day. The scene is grand and the performances are mostly free, combining worship of gods and entertainment for people. The specific activities include opening mountain songs, rewarding cattle with wild seeds, offering red meat to the divine field, singing mountain songs, etc. From form to content, they are all a microcosm of folk culture, with profound historical origins and cultural background. The festival showcases the customs of mountain farmers in labor and production through agricultural operations, worship of gods, and song competitions, reflecting the agricultural culture of mountain people's reverence for nature and pursuit of harmony between humans and all things. Since 2007, Yunhe County has held four sessions of the Terraced Fields Plowing Festival, attracting nearly 100000 renowned photographers and photography enthusiasts from all over the country to capture the ever-changing scenery of terraced fields, unique villages in Yunhe, ever-changing clouds, snow, and rime. The works created by these photographers have won awards and been exhibited multiple times in international and domestic film competitions and festivals. Cloud and terraced fields not only attract the attention of photographers, but also have irresistible charm for literary enthusiasts. In November 2010, the "Writers Look at Ecology" literary interview team organized by the Zhejiang Writers Association came to the terraced fields. Ye Xin, Vice Chairman of the Chinese Writers Association and a famous writer, specially wrote an article titled "Clouds and Terraced Fields", using vivid and beautiful strokes to depict the geographical characteristics, soft lines, and beautiful scenery of the four seasons of the cloud and terraced fields, deeply excavating and showcasing the inherent characteristics and stunning impressions of the cloud and terraced fields. This article was published in the People's Daily on March 16th of this year. In order to fully utilize the resources of cloud and terraced fields and vigorously develop the tourism industry, Yunhe County has planned the layout of cloud and terraced field scenic spots in accordance with the requirements of creating a 4A level national tourism scenic spot, which includes "one center, one belt, and four zones". "One center" refers to the tourist reception center; The "Belt and Road" refers to natural ecological and cultural landscape belts such as mountain villages, terraced fields, sea of clouds, and rime; The "Four Zones" refer to ① Terraced Field Tourist Area: consisting of Wuping Wucai Countryside Scenic Group, Xiayang Jiuqu Cloud Ring Scenic Group, Meizhu Seven Star Chasing Moon Scenic Group, and Kenggen Shizhai Residential Cultural Village, which is the core area of Yunhe Terraced Field Scenic Area; ② Mountain Village Experience Area: consisting of two blocks, Meizhu Village and Kenggen Village. Meizhu is planned to be transformed into a tourist village showcasing terraced silver mining culture and showcasing the ancient process of extracting official silver; Kengen is planned to transform into a characteristic village with stone architecture as the main style; ③ Shexiang Farmhouse Leisure Area: Xiayang Village focuses on showcasing folk culture, integrating and packaging the unique culture, production and lifestyle of foreign ethnic minority wives and She ethnic indigenous people in the area to create a unique ethnic village; ④ High mountain summer camping area: a high-altitude health resort camp mainly featuring azalea sightseeing and outdoor sports. It is expected that by the end of May, the overall project of Yunhe Terraced Fields Scenic Area will be fully completed. At that time, a 4A level tourist attraction will be presented to the public, integrating tourism and leisure, photography sightseeing, and folk appreciation. On June 6 this year, Yunhe County will hold the fifth Yunhe Terrace Ploughing Festival, which will organize activities such as Yunhe Tour of East China Internet Community, Yunhe Terrace Scenic Spot Opening Ceremony, original ecological literature and art performance, experience folk customs of mountain villages, and organize group tourism terraces. Before and after the event, Yunhe County will organize activities such as collecting stories of fairy tale writers throughout the country, "Fairy Tale Yunhe" National Photography Exhibition, Yunhe Terrace Tourism Network Marketing Seminar, and invite central and provincial mainstream media such as CCTV, Zhejiang Satellite TV, Zhejiang Daily, professional media such as Popular Photography, as well as domestic front-line media such as People's Daily, Sohu, Dongfang Net, to make special topics on Yunhe Terrace Ploughing Festival The report and theme publicity make the festival unique and effective, attract different groups to pay attention to clouds and terraces, and promote the beauty of terraces

Development History

In 2017, Yunhe Terraced Fields Scenic Area was launched and created

Honors Received

Yunhe Terraced Fields Scenic Area has been awarded the title of International Artist Wind Collection and Creation Base, and has been awarded titles such as China's Important Agricultural Cultural Heritage and National Wetland Park. It has been selected as a classic case of implementing the "88 Strategy" in Zhejiang Province, a cultivation list of ten million level core scenic spots, and the first batch of "Moon making Projects" in 26 mountainous counties