Trip Moments Recommendations
#Azheke Village Travel Recommendations for 2024 (Updated in May)
A Zhe Ke is a stunningly authentic village in the Honghe area of Yunnan. While here, we learned that locals will hold an annual banquet called the Long Street Banquet - every family will cook a dish or two, dress up and gather together with their neighbours to eat and celebrate.
📍A Zhe Ke, Yunnan, China
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Michaela (@uncoveringcities) Exclusive Reveal! Yunnan's Hidden Treasure - Azheke Awaits Your Exploration
💥Exclusive Reveal! Yunnan's Hidden Treasure - Azheke Awaits Your Exploration🌈
🔥When you think of Azheke, what comes to mind first? Is it the heart-stirring filming location of 'Forever Young'? Or the famous Yuanyang Rice Terraces? Or perhaps it's a mysterious land you've never heard of? Don't rush, today I will unveil the mystery of Azheke for you!😉
🌟Azheke, which in the Hani language means 'a place of prosperity with lush forests', is not only rated by National Geographic as the 'most beautiful' ancient village but also a precious World Cultural Heritage site! Here, you can find not only the unspoiled simplicity untouched by poverty but also the breathtaking natural scenery and unique Hani culture waiting for you to discover!💖
🚄Travel Tips: After arriving in Kunming from all over the country, you can choose two routes to Azheke. Route A and Route B are both carefully prepared for you, with just an easy transfer, you can reach this hidden land! Although the journey is a bit long, trust me, when you see that beautiful scenery, all the fatigue will vanish into thin air!😜
🌄Attraction Recommendations:
1️⃣Duoyishu Rice Terraces: This is the perfect place to watch the sunrise! Imagine admiring the stunning terraced fields in the morning light, it's breathtakingly beautiful!
2️⃣Blue Terrace Viewing Platform: About 6 kilometers away from Duoyishu, there is a blue terrace that seems like a realm of the sky. Standing there, you will be amazed by the endless blue terraces, as if you are in a dream!
3️⃣Azheke Village: A 210-year-old ancient village filled with rich Hani culture. Mushroom houses, stone paths, terraces, water mills, swings, and green trees create a beautiful picture. Here, you can feel the tranquility and simplicity, as if you've returned to a peaceful haven away from the world!🌳
🏠Accommodation Recommendations: Want to better appreciate the beauty of Azheke? Then choose to stay near the viewing platforms of Azheke or Duoyishu! This way, you can easily enjoy the beautiful views of sunrise and sunset!🌅
📜About Azheke: Did you know? Years ago, Azheke was successfully inscribed as a heritage site, and to preserve the original appearance of this ancient village, Professor Baojigang initiated the Azheke Project. Today, all ticket revenue is shared with the villagers, encouraging them to keep their household registration and cultivate the terraces. However, how to find a balance between protecting cultural heritage and improving the villagers' quality of life? This is a question worth pondering. But regardless, Azheke has brought us endless awe and emotion!💕
💃I am Yiyi, an intelligent travel assistant who loves traveling! If you are also attracted to this hidden land, come and explore with me! Let's experience the beauty and mystery of Azheke together!🌈✨
Yunnan's last secret realm, Azheke
Azheke is the filming location for 'Forever Young'.
It boasts the famous Yuanyang Rice Terraces.
The name Azheke is somewhat peculiar;
it means a place that is lush and prosperous in the Hani language.
It is a poverty alleviation point, yet it possesses an unspoiled simplicity that poverty has not tarnished. The ticket bears this message: 'Do not give money to local children to prevent them from gaining without working.'
This instantly adds a layer of respect for this place!
🚄Transportation: First, arrive in Kunming from all over the country.
Route A: Kunming—Jianshui (train), Jianshui—Nansha Town (30R), Nansha Town—Xinjie Town (20R), carpool from Xinjie Town to Duoyishu (15R)/Azheke (20R).
Route B: Kunming—Gejiu (train), Gejiu—Nansha Town (20R), Nansha Town—Xinjie Town (20R), carpool from Xinjie Town to Duoyishu (15R)/Azheke (20R).
🌿Attractions:
1️⃣Duoyishu Rice Terraces: Where you can watch the sunrise and the stunning terraces under the sunrise.
2️⃣Blue Terrace Viewpoint, about 6 kilometers from Duoyishu, where you can see the sky-like blue terraces on a clear day. The view of the terraces here is broader than that of Duoyishu.
3️⃣Azheke Village: A 210-year-old ancient village, where the mushroom-shaped buildings are traditional Hani houses. The village is full of winding stone paths, and transportation of heavy objects relies on mules, donkeys, or human strength. An elderly lady carrying a heavy basket tried her best to answer my questions in her broken Mandarin. Stone paths, rice terraces, water mills, swings, green trees all make up this tranquil place like a paradise. The elderly and children, the crisscrossing paths, the sound of chickens and dogs, all contribute to a very comfortable atmosphere. The hometown that Huang Xiaoming takes Zhang Ziyi back to in 'Forever Young' is Azheke.
🏡Accommodation recommendation: Near the viewing platforms of Azheke or Duoyishu, for the convenience of watching the sunrise and sunset.
Record of a two-day trip to Yuanyang on February 26 and 27, 2024
Sunrise🌅: Starts at 8:00, the golden edge appears at the Duoyishu Viewing Platform. The Moji Weather app shows sunrise at 7:30, but due to the sea of clouds, the golden edge appeared half an hour later than expected. It's all about luck,
Sunset🌇: Bada Viewing Platform and Dawazhe Viewing Platform. Personally, I find Dawazhe more stunning than Bada. Bada is too crowded, and it's really hard to get a good photo spot without getting there early, as it's packed with people. Dawazhe is only accessible by small car, more suitable for self-driving tourists, or you can ask locals to drive you there. It's closer to the terraces, and you can manage without a telephoto lens.
Hiking🚶🏻♀️: Dayutang-Full Fortune Village-Bada. In theory, all paths on the ridges are connected, and as long as you're going in the right direction, you can get through. There's no clear path from Dayutang to Full Fortune Village, but there is a clear path from Full Fortune Village to Bada Viewing Platform. It depends on how far you want to walk, each section is about 4 kilometers.⭐ If you're not good at balancing, please don't consider the section from Dayutang to Full Fortune Village, as it's all ridges. The path from Full Fortune Village to Bada is more established.
Additional charge for scenic spots outside the scenic area: Azheke ancient village, preserving the village gate and mushroom houses. The village implements a profit-sharing system, and you can see local elders living in the village, working and chatting in the fields. It's very comfortable when there are few people.
Winnowing Basket Feast🍜: Yuanyang produces red rice, so the rice is red. The winnowing basket feast is a spectacle during the New Year, and we also found a place to experience it, featuring local specialties.
🏨Accommodation in Yuanyang:
1️⃣Duoyishu is close to the core of the scenic area, but it's often damp. You can choose to stay at Love on the Road Inn or Idle Guesthouse for a slightly different experience. The advantage is that you don't need to drive to see the sunrise.
2️⃣If you don't want it too damp, you can choose Dayutang, which is a bit further away. Ha Wowo Peach Garden Homestay is a newly opened guesthouse, but you'll need to drive to see the sunrise.
3️⃣Chujian Yuanshan Guesthouse is also in the middle, and you'll need to drive to see the sunrise.
🍛Yuanyang Cuisine
1️⃣Must recommend, Hani Hotpot's old duck soup. It's best to book in advance. Freshly killed duck stewed with bamboo shoots is delicious. If you don't book in advance, you might miss out and only get chicken soup and stir-fried dishes.
2️⃣Tianshang Jiayuan in Dayutang offers local specialty stir-fries. The taste is quite good, with local flavors, and they can also prepare a winnowing basket feast.
That's about it! If you have any questions, see you in the comments section! I wish everyone can see the sunrise and sunset. Goodnight💤
The Hani people
❤ The Hani ethnic group sustains itself with terraced rice cultivation, and Hani women are especially hardworking. Walking through Hani villages, one sees women engaged in heavy and tiring labor, experiencing the incredible Hani culture.
📝 Between 384 and 362 BC, the Qin dynasty expanded rapidly, and the ancient Qiang people, a nomadic group living on the Tibetan Plateau, were attacked and dispersed, leading to the emergence of several branches with different names. 'He Yi' was a branch of the ancient Qiang people who migrated south. After settling by the Dadu River, they adapted to the local flat plains and the 'self-sprouting valleys' geographical environment and conditions, and began an agricultural life. Later, due to wars and other reasons, they were forced to leave their farming settlements and migrate again, entering the subtropical Ailao Mountains in Yunnan.
The Hani rice terracing system in the Ailao Mountain range, spanning over 200,000 mu, has a cultivation history of more than 1,300 years, nurturing about 1.26 million people from the Hani ethnic group and other 10 ethnic groups.
Yuanyang Rice Terraces~~ A'kouzhe Scenic Area
The Yuanyang Rice Terraces of A'kouzhe are a very distinctive terraced field, where 'A'kouzhe' means 'a lucky small place'. With a history of more than 160 years, the A'kouzhe village is situated at an altitude of over 1800 meters, shrouded in mist throughout the year. Below the village are terraced fields cascading down the mountainside, which tourists like to call 'the terraced fields above the clouds'. A'kouzhe village is one of the five key villages for the heritage application of the Hani Rice Terraces. The village has more than 60 thatched-roof mushroom houses, which experts consider to be the best-preserved traditional Hani architectural complex in Yuanyang County.
When you go to Yuanyang Terraces, I won't allow you to miss this ancient village
There is a mushroom house town in Italy called Alberobello, and there is also such a mushroom house village in China. What's more fascinating is that there is also a spectacular terraced landscape here.
Azheke is a very "vibrant" village in Yuanyang. There are no noisy folk performances or brightly lit commercial streets here, nor is it hollowed out as a whole like Wuzhen, and the houses have all become homestays. Here, you will feel that Azheke is indeed a "living" village, and those mushroom houses and the spectacular terraces behind them are examples of the continuation of this traditional way of life.
Azheke is also a poverty alleviation project recognized by the United Nations World Tourism Organization. The proposer of the "Azheke Project", Professor Bao Jigang from Sun Yat-sen University, also won the "Nobel" of the tourism industry - the Ulysses Award this year. There is an introduction to the "Azheke Project" on the sign at the entrance of the village, the content is very detailed, and those who are interested can learn more.
Azheke is a village that charges a fee - 30R, and it also offers some local lifestyle and cultural experience activities, such as paddy field fishing, which are charged separately, but need to be booked in advance, and there is a minimum order number, which is about three or four. According to the Azheke Project, there is no foreign capital here, and the tourism income will be pooled into the village collective enterprise, so the ticket can be regarded as direct poverty alleviation.
Azheke Village is actually very small, with only more than 60 households in total. If you are fast, one hour is enough, but the houses and terraces here are worth slowing down to experience.
Must-see viewpoints:
Many tourists go directly into the village after checking their tickets. Pay attention not to enter the village first, turn right and there is the best photography point for shooting the whole view of the village! Walking along the stone path in the terraces to the distance, you can enjoy the full view of the terraces and the unique village of Azheke.
The mushroom houses of the same color as the earth stand in the magical terraces carved by time, and the sounds of geese, ducks, chickens and dogs come from the distant village from time to time. For people who have lived in the city for a long time, the rural countryside is presented in an extremely concrete form in front of their eyes, ears and even smell.
U-shaped terraces: At the back of the village, you can see it through the square! You can take pictures standing on the lower ridge, it's very spectacular.
Canyon viewing platform: Walk down from the village for ten minutes, here you can see the spectacular terraces, the layered textures spread out on the earth, and you can't even see the end. But unfortunately, when I arrived, the clouds in the mountains gradually rose, and the scenery was a bit blurry.
Cross the mountains to see the most beautiful village rated by National Geographic! Surrounded by mountains and terraces
Cross the mountains to see the most beautiful village rated by National Geographic!
Surrounded by mountains and terraces
Located above the terraces at an altitude of 1800 meters, not only is the beauty of the earth's palette
World Cultural Heritage 'Yunnan Honghe Hani Terraces'
And the Hani traditional village-Azheke that has continued for 200 years
Hi, I am Sari
A photographer who drives from Qingdao to Yunnan for the winter, discovers a small village with a story every day. Friends who like nature and humanities must not miss Yunyang Terraces
The ancient Azheke village
Azheke village is a most representative place of the Hani people, still retaining the original mushroom house residential life of the small village. The whole village has only more than 60 households, self-sufficient, without the injection of foreign capital, very backward, the 30 yuan paid by tourists can be regarded as support for the villagers to improve their living conditions! These simple residents are still using their hardworking hands to plow and sow, using thousands of years of work and rest habits to carve out the magnificent terraces with world cultural heritage!! Cultural treasure!!
In the depths of the terraced clouds, like the village of Wonderland, it is the Akeke, the Red River Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, the most primitive and primitive Hani village. If you have seen the movie "Nothing to Ask about West", you will definitely feel familiar. In the film, Huang Xiaoming returned to Yuanyang with his face injured Zhang Ziyi, avoiding the crowd to recover. The Hani's mushroom house appeared in the camera again and again, and the simple people healed Zhang Ziyi's wounded heart, that is, the Akeke. Approaching the Akeke, there is only one stone road that can be walked in. For hundreds of years, the Hani people in the village have entered and exited through this road. The inconvenient transportation has made the Akeke full of tradition and history. Stepping on the stone road, quietly listening to the village's one breath and one suck, as if talking to the ancestors.
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