Peaceful Clouds,Yunhe Rice Terraces

Yunhe Rice Terraces
Yunhe Rice Terraces

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Peaceful Clouds, Yunhe Rice Terraces

After being on the road for more than 10 hours, we finally made it! If you landed here first, asking yourself “what is this 10 hour journey about?” You can read about it here: the journey to Yunhe Rice Terraces. Don’t forget to come back guys, you’re gonna love this place. I am telling you, there will be some side effects…Yes, side effects!

Besides, don’t forget to click on the pictures to make them bigger and see the amazing part of this world and get ready to realize the change in you! The pictures you’re gonna see here will take your mind and heart away from your daily stresses. They will trigger something inside of your heart and whisper in your ear to book a trip which will change your attitude towards life immediately!

Arriving at Yunhe Rice Terraces

In the sign, it says  YUNHE…

29-Have a look around

It says “Yunhe”

Arriving Yunhe Rice Terraces

Arriving at Yunhe Rice Terraces

Finally, we arrived at Yunhe Rice Terraces which is known as “Peaceful Clouds”  and you know what, that’s exactly what it is! It is so peaceful that you feel like you’re completely in a different dimension. The journey uphill was preparing me for the feeling of peace, amazement and appreciation!

Side Effects of Yunhe Rice Terraces…but this time only the positive ones…

It was the time when I was standing at the top of Yunhe Rice Terraces that I realized there was something inside of me constantly whispering…Even though the voice was the lonelinest and thinnest voice, it was coming from the depth of my heart, saying, “it is possible that you can have your dreams!“…I was standing at the top and looking at the foggy hills…There was nothing that could distract me…Only me and the view in front of me…and the voice…

“It is possible that you can have your dreams!”

Yunhe Rice Terraces had already started to show its side effects on me by giving me the courage to believe in myself more than ever and believe in my dreams more than ever! If I can come here, the magical part of this world, I could show everyone that it is not impossible!

The Local Guesthouse in Yunhe Rice Terraces

The time we arrived, everything was surrounded by heavy fog. This picture was taken hours later and I put it here to give you a clear idea of the localguest house on which I placed a big yellow arrow. We were gonna camp on the hills but as the weather was getting worse and worse, we were thinking of staying at this guesthouse.

The local guest house

The local guest house

This guesthouse is run by a local family and the food we had were all organic. We support organic food, right? Yep! The family can speak little English but I think that would not be a problem as there are many applications that can help you translate what you wanna say in English to Chinese.  As this is a short cut, you may get comfortable, but don’t. It is better to be able to pick up and use some Chinese words. They will love you for it!

There are rice fields right in front of the guesthouse which makes it more authentic…You see how foggy it was…

Rice fields in front of the house

Rice fields in front of the guest house

Lunch Time!!!

We were starving as we had been on the road for more than 10 hours! Then we learnt that we had to cook our own meal! At first, it came as a shock, but then the idea sounded so much fun than having a ready served meal.

This is the kitchen of the guesthouse…It is so authentic!

The kitchen of the local guest house

The kitchen of the local guest house

5-Backyard of the kitchen

The backyard of the kitchen

The written note on the door is saying that they had the best food in the world…Well, it may not be the best but it was the most authentic and organic one for sure.

The dining room of the local guest house

The dining room of the local guest house

After selecting our vegetables, I started to walk around a little bit before jumping into the cooking process…Here is the most common flower in the countryside…Its Chinese name is  “Du Juan Hua” and its English name is Azalea…Where else have you seen it?

7-Beautiful flower

A popular flower in the countryside and villages known as “Du Juan Hua” in Chinese

There were two Chinese girls who came to visit  Yunhe Rice Terraces like us…They wanted to take pictures with me…Afterwards, I asked them the same, to have pictures with them. In China, Chinese people like to have pictures with foreigners but they are not used to being asked the same by foreigners. So, when I wanted to have a picture with them, they loved it, they giggled, they were surprised…I love to see these reactions… In the first picture below, the “peace sign” means “good luck” in China.

8-Pictures with Chinese Travellers

Pictures with Chinese Travellers

It was time to go back to the kitchen to help cleaning the vegetables…I loved it! Even though I was so hungry, having the experience was more important…I think they had cleaned a chicken in this sink as you can see below, poor chicken!

Cleaning the vegetables

Cleaning the vegetables

The ladies below are the members of the family who runs this guesthouse. They were using an old Chinese style stove that they were burning wood to warm it. In China this type of old stove is called “Zao”.

The kitchen

The kitchen

I started to look around for a little bit more while waiting for our turn to come to cook our meal, I saw broomsticks on the terrace and I called Nancy to fly away together. These were our first attempts to fly with broomsticks.

11-Lovely witches flying trials

First flying attempts of the lovely witches

Finally, we were up in the air but going to the opposite directions..

12-Lovely witched flying

Finally, flying away

After we landed (haha), we saw that the lovely lady had already started to cook our dishes for us….It looked so “HAO CHI” means delicious.

13-Cooking

The Kitchen

17-still cooking

The kitchen

As they didn’t need us to do the rest, I was free to explore more…Here is the first step of being local, trying on the local hat…Which picture looks better?

Being local starts from the hat

Being local starts from the hat

My travel buddies picked this one as the winner…

15-this one is selected

Being local starts from the hat

“There is a big spider web over your head Nancy” I shouted…Ups! wrong alarm…The spider wasn’t at home…

16-local spiderweb

The spider web

Here, Nancy was throwing leftovers(sushi) to the fishes in the empty rice fields…

Feeding the fishes

Feeding the fishes

Can you see the red fishes?

23-rice fields and fishes

Fishes in the rice fields

Everyone was happy to be here!

Happy times

Happy times

Ohhh look at this cutie!!!

21-Lovely dog

The cutie of the village

And yeah, finally our meal was ready! Vegetables with tones of steamed rice!

22-Lunch Time

Lunch time

After lunch, we took a nap before starting to explore the rice fields….After two hours of extended nap, well you know “please, 5 more minutes” situation,  it was time to explore as we didn’t wanna miss the sun light…

The view from the balcony…

The view from the balcony

The view from the balcony

Look who was waiting for us? Again, the cutie of the vilage!

25-Lovely dog again

The cutie of the village

WHAT IS SO SPECIAL ABOUT PEACEFUL CLOUDS?

In Chinese, Yunhe literally means “Peaceful Clouds”. As you can remember from the journey to Yunhe Rice Terraces, these rice terraces are located in Yunhe County, Lishui City, Zhejiang Province, China. Yunhe Rice Terraces are one of the 5 most beautiful rice terraces in China and the biggest one in eastern China. It was developed 1.000 years ago in the early Tang Dynasty. It covers 51 square kilometers. There are seven small mountains surrounding the area. The altitude of the terraces are up to 1.400 meters, that’s why the scenery is unique! It is said that there are at least 650 layers on a hill! It is huge!

The best time to visit Yunhe Rice Terraces

Yunhe is in the subtropic monsoon area. The average temperature is 16 Celcius degrees. The best time to visit Yunhe Rice Terraces is when it rains! You should really be here when it rains! Steam from the river floats through the rice terraces and creates a dreamland! We were lucky to be here during the rainy season.

Let’s keep going…

Here is a far away shot of “Seven-Star Pier”where you can see the whole view…

26-View Point

Seven Star Pier

Here are 3 of the mountains surround Yunhe Rice Terraces…

27-Fog around the mountains

Fog around the mountains

This is the only restaurant on top of the hill that you’re gonna pass through while walking towards Seven Star Pier.

28-Restaurant on top of the hill

The restaurant on top of the hill

It felt amazing to be so close to the hills, as if I was gonna reach out and touch them…

30-Yunhe Rice Terraces

Yunhe Rice Terraces

Our experienced tour guide

Here is our tour guide to Seven Star Pier…I think she knew where she was going…

31-Chicken friend

Our experienced tour guide

We were so lucky to see the various colors of green…

33-Mountains

Various colors of green

Seven Stars Chasing the Moon – Seven Star Pier

Finally we arrived Seven Star Pier…As there are seven mountains, the layout is like the Big Dipper, called “Seven Stars Chasing the Moon” by local people. Doesn’t it sound amazing! and it also looks stunning which you’re gonna see soon…Locals say that beneath the pier, the rice terrace looks like the Milky Way.

You see, this is a famous spot for photography lovers!

34-View point

The view point at Seven Star Pier

Let’s look back to see where we walked from….

35-Village up in the mountain

Village up in the mountain

As many people were amazed by the view, this was a necessary sign!! But it’s hard for a multi-functional person…I needed to look at the view, walk and take pictures at the same time…Let me tell you, at this altitute it could be a problem…

36-The sign at the view point

The sign at the view point

Here is the view…

41-The whole view

Yunhe Rice Terraces

I was totally amazed…

39-Amazed by the view

Amazed by the view

We all were…It was stunning…

40-Amazed by the view

Amazed by the view

A panoramic view of Yunhe Rice Terraces…

42a-The whole view-panorama

The panoramic view

42-The whole view

Yunhe Rice Terraces

The peaceful clouds….

Peaceful clouds

Peaceful clouds

Can you see the grey area beyond the mountains…We call it “The Concrete Jungle”…

44-City life beyond the mountains

The city life beyond the mountains

The goal was to reach Kenggen Stone Village…

46-Finding our way

Finding our way

Here is a zoomed shot of Kenggen Stone Village from Seven Star Pier…

45-Kenggen Stone Village - The hidden village between seven mountains

Kenggen Stone Village – The hidden village between seven mountains

How far actually we were from the village can be seen from this picture…

51bc-the biggest rice field

How far we were from Kenggen Village

One of my favourite shots…This picture takes me back to Yunhe everytime I look at it….

47-Amazing flower hanging out from the tree

Amazing flower hanging out from the tree

We started to walk through the terrace filed road…

48-hiking

Hiking in Yunhe Rice Terraces

50-our path

Hiking in Yunhe Rice Terraces

Here is how they water every layer of the rice terraces…

The water system of the rice fields

The water system of the rice fields

Still way to go…It was awesome to be here, in this fairy land…

51b-the biggest rice field

Standing on the biggest rice field in Yunhe

51-the biggest rice field

The biggest rice field in Yunhe

53-rice fields

Yunhe rice fields

54-rice fields

Life in Yunhe Rice Fields

As it felt like we were on an endless road, we created our own fun…

55a-rice fields

Making the hike more fun

At some point everywhere was so green that our eyes started to see everything green…You see what I am talking about….

56-rice fields

Yunhe Rice Fields

We were almost there…It took us around 45 minutes as we were also taking pictures…

57-the village

Kenggen Stone Village

58-the village

Kenggen Stone Village

Fog started to surround the hills again…

59-hills covered with fog

Hills covered with fog

61-the path we passed through was covered in fog

Hills covered with fog

You can see the water coming down the hills…

60-water coming down the hills

water coming down the hills

63-full-reflection

The reflection of the trees on the water

Kenggen Stone Village

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Finally we arrived at Kenggen Stone Village in which 176 families living. It has more than 800 years of history…

94-Kenggen Stone Village

Kenggen Stone Village

We saw a memorial stone. It wasn’t an actual grave but was built to honor the dead by burning lucky money (not real money) in a bowl, as you can see from the picture, to help the soul live a rich life on the other side.

65-in the memorry

The memorial stone

The river runs through the village…

68-the couple beside the river

The couple beside the river

74-the view of the village

The river runs through the village

67-the river running through the village 68-the river running through the village

The typical houses of Kenggen Stone Village…

The typical Kenggen houses

The typical Kenggen houses

70-village houses

The typical Kenggen houses

This guy was the second person we saw in the village…You may think that he seems quite serious…

71-village man

The farmer

Look how friendly he was when he saw us…

72-frienly village man

The farmer

Do not put your hands or fingers in dark places where you have no idea what might come out…We have a common saying in Turkish but it may sound weird if I translate it directly…So I’ll save it for the Turkish version of the article…

73-spiderwebs

Spiderwebs

Started to see more local people from the village…The thing is some of them spoke a really different dialect so it was hard to communicate, especially when we were wondering where the rest of the village population was.

75-the village man

Kenggen Stone Village

It was such an old village that I could feel it in every step…Its narrow routes, stairs covered with stones and ancient cottages…

Kenggen Stone Village

Kenggen Stone Village

Here is another cutie….I can hear you guys! You’re saying “Are you crazy?! What if she bites you?!” Well, yeah then you all agree with my mom as well, but sometimes your gut instincts can guide you…Well, I have no idea how I stopped myself from hugging her…So no need to worry, at least this time…

77-cute dog

The cutie of Kenggen Stone Village

Ok guys calm down, you both have shiny feather and yeah, you can totally rule the village! We support you on this one…

78-farm life

The farm life

 Magical Spring Water

Ming Spring was built while the village people were exploring the silver mine. It has more than 400 years of history. It is believed that it is inexhaustible and if the tea water is made with the spring, it will be very tasty.

80-Ming Spring

Ming Spring

Stone Gate of Kenggen Village 

You can see the famous Stone Gate of Kenggen Village…What do you think about the colors of the stones?

90-stone wall

Stone Gate of Kenggen Village

A closer look at the stones…

93-Stone wall

The colorful stones

91-amazed by the view

The Stone Gate of Kenggen Stone Village

While we were having our pictures taken under Stone Gate, Chinese travellers were taking our pictures.

92-people taking our pictures

People taking our pictures

Silver Official Bridge

I was standing under The Stone Gate when I saw the famous bridge…When the imperial court started to use the silver mine, it pushed the silver officials to build bridges and roads so as to make people obtain benefits. In order to remember the kindness of the imperial court, the bridge was named Silver Official Bridge.

82-Kenggen Stone Village

Silver Official Bridge

I could stay here for hours….

83-amazed by the view

Amazed by the view

84a-amazed by the view 84-amazed by the view85-amazed by the view

Nancy caught the steps of how I take pictures…

1-The feeling of excitement just before capturing the moment..

2-Getting in action..

3-Feeling relieved of having captured the moment with my camera..

86a-amazed by the view

The Old Water Wheel

What do I love about the old water wheels? Well, let me help you feel what I feel…

Look at the picture below and imagine that you are here…

You go and sit beside the water wheel…

Try to empower all your senses….Especially:

Listen to the sound coming from the water wheel, the sound of the water…

Feel the breeze coming from the water wheel that goes through your skin, your hair…

Now close your eyes…

Can you feel how free your mind is…That’s why I love old water wheels…

87-amazed by the view 88a-amazed by the view  89a-amazed by the view

800 years old Kenggen Village was welcoming the modern times cyclists

The first time I saw them, I thought that ” Are these really here?”…They were all real with their vivid outfits…I loved the concept of 800 years old Kenggen village was welcoming the cyclists with their vivid outfits…Coming here with bikes should have been a real challenge…

95-Cyclists appear in Kenggen Stone Village

Cyclists appear in Kenggen Stone Village

They kept coming…

Cyclists appear in Kenggen Stone Village

Cyclists appear in Kenggen Stone Village

And kept coming…

Cyclists appear in Kenggen Stone Village

Cyclists appear in Kenggen Stone Village

98-Cyclists appear in Kenggen Stone Village

Cyclists appear in Kenggen Stone Village

Here is one of my favourite shots…The local man looking behind the cyclists…Can you guess what he was thinking at that time?

99a-Cyclists appear in Kenggen Stone Village

Cyclists appear in Kenggen Stone Village

Cyclists were enjoying the view…

100-Cyclists appear in Kenggen Stone Village

Cyclists appear in Kenggen Stone Village

The happiest man of Kenggen Stone Village

He was looking so happy with his cigarette while watching the cyclists exploring the village…

101-the happiest man of the village

102-the happiest man of the village

Rain was coming…

As I told you, the best time to visit Yunhe is the rainy season but better not to stay outside when it rains…So it was time to go back.

104-heavy rain is on the way

Heavy rain is on the way

The peaceful clouds started to move faster and faster…

103-hills covered in fog

The hills covered in fog

Watch out the chicken army behind you…

It’s their dinner time…When you have to feed an army of chickens, you’d better have enough food while they are running after you…

105-chicken army

The chicken army

Dinner time for him too or probably a day long one…

106ab-do not step on

Climbing our way to the top…

106a-do not step on

Climbing our way to the top

Ups! a floating mine was in front of us…Well, at least it was an organic one produced by one of the cows we saw…

106-do not step on

A floating mine

Lost in fog

Fog was moving faster than us and after a while everything around us was surrounded by fog…Little bird flew into the unknown…

107a-fog is faster than us

Fog was faster than us

And Reece was waiting for us in fog…

107b-fog is faster than us

Fog was faster than us

Finally we arrived at the local guest house

As I was reading my book, fog was helping to create a magical and peaceful environment around me…

107c-dinner is gett'ng ready

Reading my book while surrounded by fog

Dinner Time

As you can see the action in the kitchen, it was dinner time and this time Nancy was our Chef!  She cooked a great chicken dish for us!

Dinner is almost ready

Dinner is almost ready

I was recording a video while Nancy was cooking..

108-dinner is ready

Delicious chicken and onion dishes

As you can see, it was complete dark outside…City lights can change how we see nights as well…The thing was as we were sitting under the light, the members of the bug community was running towards us…I screamed couple of times when I saw huge bugs around me and literally on me!! I saw the biggest cockroach in my life…Don’t get me wrong…This is village life and I am not complaining, no way, as long as I don’t wake up with them…Blehhh….I couldn’t take a picture of it as I couldn’t find a perfect time between realizing it and running away from it…

109-photo break

Photo break

Ma Jiang

Ma Jiang is really famous in Eastern and South Eastern Asia. It is normally played with four people  with a set of 144 tiles based on Chinese characters and symbols. The way it is played is similar to Rummy, a Western card game.

Ma Jiang, one of the famous Chinese games

Ma Jiang, one of the famous Chinese games

Time to go to bed

We were full of appreciation to have such a great day…As we were gonna see the sun rise the next day, we had to go to bed early…Finally it started to rain and in five minutes turned into a rain storm with lightnings and thunders…Camping was off the table…Actually, we did it, but inside the guesthouse as all the rooms were taken…

111-Camping inside the house

Camping inside the guesthouse

Camping in the guesthouse rocks!

Have a great night wherever you are! Get ready for the next day!

1 Comment

  • Idris says:

    Hi,

    I’m planning to go to this place for the week-end with some friends. I would like to know if it was hard to find a guest house there. Did you book it before or you just found it when you arrived at the village?

    Thanks, nice blog by the way 😉

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