ChinaSignature | Honghe Hani Rice Terraces: The ecological legacy of the integrated "four-fold" system

BEIJING, March 23 (Xinhua) -- March 22 marks World Water Day, and China Water Week runs from March 22 to 28. Both aim to raise awareness of the value of water resources and the need for their sustainable management.

Honghe Hani Rice Terraces, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is located in Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture in southwest China's Yunnan Province. For generations, the local people, mainly of the Hani ethnic group, have transformed the mountains into this spectacular landscape. They have also developed a complex self-sustaining water system that channels water from the forested mountaintops to the terraced rice paddies.

What philosophy of water management lies behind this system?

Let us hear the story from a local "resident" -- a water buffalo itself.

Photos by

Jiang Wenyao, Hu Chao, Gao Yongwei, Hu Jingwen, Lei Qing, Wang Xiangbo & Ma Longshan

Story by

Hu Jingwen

Visual design by

Li Mangmang, Hu Jingwen & Sui Shangjun

China Signature Studio■