Longji's famed rice terraces have been luring travellers to the region for decades to witness some of China's most spectacular scenery. Rising to 1000m, they are an amazing feat of farm engineering on hills dotted with minority villages. There are two main areas to see: the Ping'an terraces, the most established of the region's rice fields; and the Jinkeng terraces, with life-affirming viewpoints around Dazhai and Tiantouzhai.
On the Ping'an side, one of the most sublime and beautiful images rewards the climb up to the Nine Dragons & Five Tigers Viewing Point with its astonishing, curvaceous layers of terraces. It's around a 30-minute walk above Ping'an. The oldest field is over 700 years old; you pass it just before making your ascent to Dazhai.
Smaller, but equally impressive, is the view at Seven Stars Chase the Moon (七星伴月), 700m east of Ping'an, where the striped, swirled patterns of the terraces resemble the contours of a giant thumbprint. From here you can make your way down the stairs to the atmospheric old village (古壮; one hour return) with century-old buildings set among rice fields immersed in a sea of cloud.
From the Jinkeng side, the signature outlook is from Golden Buddha Peak (金佛顶, Jīnfó Dǐng), offering astounding views of sculpted terraces that are reached via the cable car from Dazhai or a one-hour hike (one way) from Tiantouzhai. Also don't miss the sublime vistas from Music From Paradise (西山韶乐, Xishan Shaoyue), a 40-minute hike from Tiantouzhai, or at Thousand Layers to Heaven (大界天层天梯, Dajie Qianceng Titian), famous for its ethereal sunrise, a 30-minute walk from Tiantouzhai.
