Hello, ladies and gentlemen. A special hello to all the fans of Read English for You Program. I am Yongqing. It’s my great honor to be your tour guide. Close your eyes, free your heart and travel with me.

Beneath the colorful clouds in Yunnan Province lies a place of mystery and legend. Now, I will take you to this place to experience the stunning beauty of Hani Terrace and unique culture of Yi nationality. What is the place? Well, it is Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture. Honghe is home to ten ethnic groups, among which Hani and Yi people take predominance over in number. It provides travelers a cultural feast of ethnic costumes, architecture, songs and dances. A red river runs through the prefecture. In Chinese, Hong means red. He indicates river. That’s why Honghe Prefecture is called.

Now we are reaching Yuanyang, a county in Honge. The Hani Terraces spread along the southern bank of the Red River and cover a total area of over 40,000 hectares. The core areas in Yuanyang County fully demonstrate the charm of Hani Terrace. Yunnan’s mountains are remote, rugged and inaccessible. However, the Hani people have lived here for more than a thousand years. The steep topography and severe weather condition didn’t threaten Hani people to move away. Instead, they dug numerous trenches in the mountains so that the water could flow down. To keep the water, they built banks along these mountains.

Over centuries, by developing irrigation networks, they could grow rice in these water fields. For more than 1,300 years, it has transformed the landscape. These mountains plunge nearly two kilometers to the floor of red river valley. Each contains thousands of terraces. They were curved out by the use of hand-made tools. That’s no wonder why Hani Terrace is praised as “a real sculpture of the earth”.

Equally important, by making the terraces, Hani people created wetland in places where there was no wetland at all. Thus, the climate can be regulated and biodiversity is maintained. Villages scatter in the terraces. These villagers seem to live near to heaven. They still plough the terraces by water buffaloes. This man-made landscape is one of the most amazing engineering in pre-industrial China. It seems that every inch of the land has been pressed into cultivation. It is breathtaking for you to stand on the top of the mountain to overview the terraces. UNESCO is also amazed at the spectacular work. It’s listed as a world heritage site.

After appreciating the stunning beauty of Hani Terrace, we reach Shiping County. Huayao people, a branch of Yi nationality, inhabit in this area. You may be attracted by the versatile people and natural beauty. Why are they called Huayao people？If you are observant, you will notice their beautiful clothing especially their belts. They are called Huayao people because the females wear such beautiful belts around their waists. Huayao Bride, a film featuring on the life of Huayao people, was shot there. Huayao people are very good at singing and dancing. They have worshipped dragon since ancient time. Both males and females can perform dragon dance. On the stage of Beijing Olympic Opening Ceremony, they performed dragon dance to audiences from all over the world.

Listen, who is singing? Every time there is a festival, members of the community, males and females,
the young and the old, will gather around a bonfire on the village square. They sing and dance happily. It is also a place for the young to find their love. Let&`&s join in the party. If you are still single, you may find your sweetheart. What? Huayao friends are inviting us to their party. Let’s go!