Attractions in Guilin, Guangxi Province, China       

Rice Planting & Rice Terrace in China - Continued...

The builders continue to work on the retaining wall, adding another course of stone on top of the wall, along its entire length. The builders move a large amount of gravel from the slope above to fill in the area behind the retaining wall. Whenever possible, they use fast-moving water to transport material. The waterway in this example is an existing stream, but builders can also use temporary channels dug into the hillside, a wooden sluice, or some other type of waterway.

Builders add one course of stone after another to the retaining wall. Since this wall is not self supporting, they need to add more gravel fill as the wall rises.

The builders now use the waterway to move earth to the terrace, where they tamp and smooth the material to produce a flat, horizontal surface. They also cover the top layer of the stone wall with the earth.

Again, the builders use water to transport material to the terrace, this time a soft, clayey topsoil. Eight to twelve inches deep, the topsoil is graded so that it slopes downward toward the hill. By doing so, if there's ever a break in the rim or if part of the wall fails, some of the water will be retained, along with any fish that may live in the pond.

Finally, the terrace is flooded with water. The water depth in the terrace is controlled by an outlet, which also feeds into the terrace below. Later, perhaps the following season or perhaps many seasons hence, another terrace may be built above this terrace.

It was in China that the processes of puddling soil and transplanting seedlings were likely refined. Both operations became integral parts of rice farming and remain very widely practiced to this day. Puddling breaks down the internal structure of soils, making them much less subject to water loss through percolation. In this respect, it can be thought of as a way of extending the utility of a limited supply of water.

Transplanting is the planting of 1- to 6- wk-old seedlings in standing water. Under these conditions, the rice plants have an important head start over a very wide range of competing weeds, which leads to higher yields. Transplanting, like puddling, provides the farmer with the ability to better accommodate the rice crop to a finite and fickle water supply by shortening the field duration (since seedlings are grown separately, and a higher density) and adjusting the planting calendar.

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Another splendid rice terrace in Jinkeng, 10 km of Pingan...

>8 days Guiyang-Kaili-Zhaoxing-Sanjiang-Longji-Guilin