Longji Rice Terraces

Terraces carved by hand, farmed by hand, unchanged for centuries

The Longji Rice Terraces climb the hillsides of northern Guangxi in carved steps that stretch from river valley to cloud line. Built by Zhuang and Yao communities over 700 years ago, they are still farmed by hand, still fed by the same gravity-driven irrigation channels, and still shaped by the seasons.

For students, Longji is the most immersive stop on the programme. There are no museums or visitor centres. You stay in a village homestay, eat with a local family, and wake up to terraces that change colour with the light. If you visit during planting season, you stand in the paddies and plant rice alongside the farmers who have done it their whole lives. It is the opposite of a screen.