Shanghaied Bob: Longji Rice terraces part3 Dazhai

Dazhai sits high up in a large dead end valley with 5 other smaller hamlets, all inhabited by the Yao minority. It is very remote and more difficult to get to. The walk from the parking lot to Dazhai takes a little over an hour and to get to the hotel we stayed at just above the rice terraces takes another 50 minutes to get to. Once you get above Dazhai village and get a chance to look around, you are blown away by the size and depth of rice terraces and the beauty of the valley.

We arrived late in the afternoon very tried from our 7 hour walk that day and went straight to the hotel. That night a thunderstorm came through and knocked out the power to the hotel for a 1/2 hour but the storm cooled the night air and a very refreshing wonder mountain breeze started to blow which allowed us to open our windows and enjoy a very nice night's sleep. Coming from Shanghai this was very refreshing.

I set my alarm to get up a half an hour before sun rise. The most opportune times to take photographs of the flooded rice terraces is at sunrise or sunset. And I was in luck, the next morning the storm clouds had disappeared and the sky was filled with stars. From our hotel room balcony I could see off in the distance people where already gathering at the one viewpoint to take pictures. Below are some of those pictures and of our walk back down to the parking lot that afternoon.