Photographer records history of Honghe Hani Rice Terraces in past 3 decades

Luo Han, a photographer of Hani ethnic in southwest China's Yunnan Province, has been recording the stories of Honghe Hani Rice Terraces and local people in the past 30 years.

Luo has taken more than 100,000 photos for terraces, farmers, children, villages and cows and written more than 600,000 words of interview notes, trying to record everything that had happened there.

Honghe Hani Rice Terraces are cultural wonders of Hani people's agriculture in Yuanyang County, Yunnan, with a total area of one million mu (about 66666.7 hectares). Renowned as the "land sculpture", it has a history of more than 1,300 years and was listed as a World Heritage in 2013 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, or UNESCO.

In Luo's eyes, Honghe Hani Rice Terraces have "living vitality", not only because they are an epitome of farming wisdom of generations of Hani people, but also because they have been nourishing local people with abundant products.

"People keep farming day after day in thousands of years, which has become the vitality source of the terraces here," said Luo.

"Farming time sequence is of great significance to the terrace culture. It is the rule that has maintained the Hani peoplefor thousands of years and their festivals arealso determined according to the circulation of rice cultivation," said Luo. The photographer also follows the law of farmingin years.

Luo once photographed three boys on the muddy road in Yuanjiang County over 30 years ago who were eagerly seeing a car going away.

In 2018, Luo Han found the three boys in the photo after twists and turns. They were at their thirties and had become bread earners of their families. They had got rid of poverty and live an abundant life.

Luo's photos have recorded the vicissitudes of Honghe Hani Rice Terraces. People living here have eliminated poverty and are getting rich through selling their special agricultural products to other parts of China via e-commerce.

Meanwhile, Hani people are integrating their old villages and terrace culture into rural revitalization. "They are establishing an ideal home they’ve been long for," said Luo.