Hani People

The Hani people, with a population of approximately 1.6 million in Yunnan Province, are primarily concentrated in Honghe Prefecture and Yuanyang County. They are world-renowned as the creators and maintainers of the spectacular Yuanyang Rice Terraces, a UNESCO World Heritage Site recognized as a masterpiece of human creativity and environmental adaptation. The Yuanyang Rice Terraces were sculpted into the Ailao Mountains over 1,300 years ago, transforming steep mountainsides into cascading agricultural landscapes. These terraces demonstrate the Hani people's sophisticated understanding of hydrology, ecology, and sustainable agriculture. The terraces create stunning visual displays throughout the year, especially during the flooded winter months when they reflect the sky like mirrors. Hani culture is deeply connected to their terraced landscape through a complex belief system that venerates forests, water sources, and the land. They maintain a four-element ecosystem: forests at the mountaintops conserve water, villages sit in the middle elevations, terraces cover the slopes, and rivers flow through the valleys. The Long Table Feast (Changzhe Feast) is the most important Hani celebration, held during the Kuzhazha Festival (Hani New Year). Hundreds of tables are joined together in village streets, with families contributing dishes to create a communal banquet that can stretch for hundreds of meters. Hani architecture features distinctive mushroom-shaped houses with thick thatched roofs designed to insulate against the mountain climate. These traditional dwellings are built on slopes with stone foundations and have separate areas for living, cooking, and livestock.