Rice terraces cut into a mountainside between 300 and 1,100 metres, started under the Yuan dynasty and finished under the Qing — the one Guilin sight that is not made of limestone.
The Longji terraces — the Dragon's Backbone — lie in Longsheng County, about 90 kilometres and two hours north of Guilin. They climb from 300 metres to 1,100 metres, on slopes between 26 and 35 degrees, with the steepest sections at 50. Construction began in the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368) and was finished in the Qing (1644–1911), by Zhuang and Yao farmers whose descendants still work them.
Everything else you will see around Guilin is karst: grey limestone, green water, vertical peaks. Longji is human-made landscape — thousands of narrow fields following the contour of the mountain, held up by stone walls, from the valley floor to the ridge. In spring they are flooded and mirror the sky; in summer deep green; in autumn gold before the October harvest.
Ping'an is the more accessible and the more visited, with the classic viewpoint a twenty-to-thirty-minute walk uphill from the car park. Dazhai, also called Jinkeng, has larger terraces and steeper paths, and is where the Yao women with the long hair live. If knees or time are a constraint, choose Ping'an.
90 km north of Guilin, about two hours by road, the last hour climbing a winding mountain road. From there a shuttle bus (separate ticket) or a 20–30 minute walk reaches Ping'an.
April to June for flooded terraces reflecting the sky; June to August for deep green; mid-September to late October for gold. Winter is quiet and often misty but the terraces are bare.
Fixed price per car, driver waits while you walk.
Tell us your dates and we will confirm the car, the driver and a fixed price within 2 hours.