annex 3. rice terraces systems in subtropical china-- -- xinhua … · 2018-01-11 · its typical...

GIAHS Proposal Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces, China

Annex 3.

Rice Terraces Systems in Subtropical China

-- Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces

Location: Xinhua County, Hunan Province, China

The People’s Government of Xinhua County, Hunan Province

August, 2016


I

SUMMARY INFORMATION

Name/Title of the Agricultural Heritage System (local Name and Translation, if

necessary):

Rice Terraces Systems in Subtropical China

-- Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces

Recommending/Applying Organization:

The People’s Government of Xinhua County, Hunan Province, P. R. China

Country/Location/Site:

This site is located at Xinhua County of Loudi City in central Hunan Province

covering the whole Xinhua County. The core area of the site is located at

N27°28′-27°45′, E110°52′-111°00′, which covers three townships, including

Shuiche town, Fengjia town and Wentian town.

Accessibility of the Site to Capital City or Major Cities:

Xinhua county, about 200 km from Changsha, the capital city of Hunan

Province, boasts great land and rail transportation, with land transportation

connecting Loudi and Huaihua, State Road 207 and Highway S312, S225, S217 and

other highways; Shanghai-kunming Railway, Jiaozuo-Liuzhou Railway,

Hunan-Guizhou Railway and Luoyang-Zhanjiang Railway pass through. The nearest

airport is Huanghua Airport in Changsha.

Approximate Surface Area:

The total area is 3642 Km2, among which the core area is 460 Km

2.

Agro-Ecological Zone: Low/middle hilly areas for rice terraces in Southern China.


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Topographic Features:

Its typical landscape is low and middle hills and mountains, with the terrain

tilting from northwest to southeast. There are mountains of Xuefeng (covered with

snow in Winter) towering in the west and north area, low hills and mountains in the

southeast area, Zi River and its tributaries in the center. The highest altitude of this

region is 1,584m and the lowest is 353m, with the relative height difference for over

1,000m.

Climate Type:

It is subtropical monsoon climate with the average annual temperature of

13.7℃, in which the highest temperature can reach 39.0℃, while the lowest

temperature is -13.0℃; the annual precipitation is 1650~1700mm; the average

annual frost-free period is about 260 days; the annual accumulated temperature

(≥10℃) is 5296℃; and the average annual sunlight hour is 1488 hrs.

Approximate Population:

The total population is about 1.4 million, of which population lives in the core

area is about 90,000.

Main Source of Livelihoods:

Food and vegetables for local people are mainly supplied by the Ziquejie

Terraces. The revenue from agriculture and husbandry accounts for one-third of the

total income for farmers.

Ethnicity/Indigenous Population:

This area is dominated by Han people (It was once occupied by multi-ethnics,

including Yao, Miao, Dong and others in the history. Nowadays, lots of customs of

those ethnic groups are still very well retained in this region.)

Summary Information of the Agricultural Heritage System:

Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces are a typical rice terraces system. This area was

inhabited since Qin and Han Dynasties. The Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces have a long

history for more than one thousand years since there were the written records about

terraces reclamation in Song Dynasty. Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces have formed a


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staggered three-dimensional landscape consists of forest, folk houses, terraces and

waters. For thousands of years, ancient residents in Ziquejie built terraces according

to the local topography, geology, soil, forest vegetation and water features. They

also created an effective natural gravity irrigation system with simple engineering

facilities, which in turn formed traditional farming methods that were compatible

with the environment. These methods are still widely in use till now and serve as a

typical example of soil and water conservation. Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces provide

important multiple ecosystem services, such as livelihood security, biodiversity

conservation, and water and soil conservation. Traditional rice varieties of this

region represented by the black tribute rice and red rice have high quality after the

natural and human selection for a long time, which have become the important part

of gene bank. Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces are the historical and cultural relics

integrating the southern rice culture and the fishing and hunting culture in

mountainous region inhabited by Miao and Yao ethnic groups. Its culture is filled

with local and traditional characteristics, including the Meishan culture, farming

culture, religions, folk houses and residential buildings, food culture, etc.

Nowadays, with the rapid urbanization and industrialization, because of the

outflow of young workers, the labor intensity of agricultural production, the

relatively low profit of traditional agriculture, and some other reasons, Xinhua

Ziquejie Terraces are facing the loss of traditional farming techniques and traditional

rice varieties, underdevelopment of terrace infrastructures, and the threats of severe

droughts, etc. In 2012, Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces was selected as one of the China

Nationally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems. The local government and

multi stakeholders initiated a series of projects, which signaled as a prelude of the

agricultural heritage protection and development in Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces. Being

listed as the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System, the dynamic

conservation and adaptive management of Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces will be further

promoted and strengthened, which is of great practical significance.


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Contents 1 System Characteristics .................................................................................................................... 1

1.1 Food and Livelihood Safety ................................................................................................. 4

1.1.1 Variety of Food Resources ........................................................................................ 4

1.1.2 Variety of Forest Products ......................................................................................... 5

1.1.3 Important Source of Income ...................................................................................... 5

1.1.4 High Quality Traditional Rice Varieties .................................................................... 6

1.2 Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function .................................................................................. 7

1.2.1 Biodiversity ............................................................................................................... 7

1.2.2 Ecosystem Services ................................................................................................. 10

1.3 Knowledge Systems and Adapted Technologies ................................................................ 14

1.3.1 Compound Ecological Cultivation Model in Paddy Fields ..................................... 15

1.3.2 Natural Gravity Irrigation System ........................................................................... 17

1.3.3 Traditional Construction and Maintenance Technology of Terraces ....................... 19

1.3.4 Traditional Rice Cultivation Technology ................................................................ 21

1.3.5 Traditional Cultivation Technology for Finger Millet ............................................. 23

1.3.6 Traditional Technology to Maintain Soil Fertility ................................................... 25

1.3.7 Traditional Ecological Technology for Pest Control ............................................... 26

1.3.8 Traditional Farming Tools ....................................................................................... 26

1.4 Cultures, Value Systems and Social Organizations ............................................................ 29

1.4.1 Traditional Belief Featured with Unique Wu Nuo Witchcraft Culture .................... 30

1.4.2 Unique Festivals and Customs ................................................................................ 31

1.4.3 Traditional Folk Arts ............................................................................................... 33

1.4.4 Traditional Villages Featured by Plank Houses....................................................... 36

1.4.5 Unique Hot and Sour Food Culture ......................................................................... 39

1.4.6 Mutual Cooperative Labour Relations .................................................................... 41

1.4.7 Local Rules and Regulations ................................................................................... 42

1.5 Remarkable Landscapes, Land and Water Resources Management Features .................... 43

1.5.1 Composite Landscape ............................................................................................. 43


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1.5.2 Landscape of Farmlands ......................................................................................... 45

1.5.3 Landscape of Soil and Water Management ............................................................. 47

1.5.4 Village Cultural Landscape ..................................................................................... 48

2 Historic Relevance ........................................................................................................................ 49

2.1 The Origin and Evolution History of the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces .................................. 49

2.2 Integrated Culture Promote the Sustainable Development of Terraced Fields ................... 50

2.3 Incorporation of Rice Cultivation with Fishing and Hunting Promote Sustainable

Economic Development ........................................................................................................... 52

2.4 Historical Model of Harmonious and Sustainable Development of Human and Land ...... 53

3 Contemporary Relevance .............................................................................................................. 55

3.1 Important Guarantee to Maintain Sustainable Development of Agriculture ...................... 55

3.2 Important Foundation to Maintain Regional Ecological Balance ...................................... 55

3.3 Typical Model for Utilizing the Multi-functionality of Agriculture ................................... 56

3.4 Important Approach to Improve the Livelihoods for Local Farmers ................................. 56

4 Threats and Challenges ................................................................................................................. 58

4.1 Threats ................................................................................................................................ 58

4.1.1 Relative Low Comparative Benefits of Agricultural Production ............................ 58

4.1.2 Increased Vulnerability of Ecosystem Caused by Extreme Weather ....................... 58

4.1.3 Underdeveloped Infrastructure of Terraced Fields .................................................. 59

4.1.4 Tourism Facilities and Reception Conditions Need to be Improved ....................... 59

4.2 Challenges .......................................................................................................................... 60

4.2.1 Traditional Agriculture Suffers from the Impacts of Modern Agriculture .............. 60

4.2.2 Importance of Agricultural Production Weakened by Urbanization ....................... 60

4.2.3 Traditional Culture Influenced by the Development of Modernization .................. 61

4.2.4 Ecosystems Affected by Many Factors ................................................................... 62

5 Practical Considerations ................................................................................................................ 64

5.1 Ongoing Efforts to Promote the GIAHS ............................................................................ 64

5.2 Potentials and Opportunities for Sustainability and Management of the GIAHS .............. 68

5.2.1 Development Potential ............................................................................................ 68


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5.2.2 Development Opportunities .................................................................................... 70

5.3 Expected Impacts of GIAHS on Society and Ecology ....................................................... 73

5.3.1 Social Impacts ......................................................................................................... 73

5.3.2 Ecological Impacts .................................................................................................. 74

5.4 Motivation of the Local Community, the Local/national Authorities and other Relevant

Stakeholders ............................................................................................................................. 74

5.4.1 Local Community.................................................................................................... 74

5.4.2 The People's Government of Xinhua County .......................................................... 75

5.4.3 The People's Government of China ......................................................................... 76

5.4.4 Related Enterprises.................................................................................................. 76

5.4.5 Tourists .................................................................................................................... 77

6 Dynamic Protection Outline of Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces ............................................................ 78

6.1 Conservation Baseline ........................................................................................................ 78

6.1.1 A Series of Protection Measures have been Taken .................................................. 78

6.1.2 Guiding Principles for Future Work was Clarified .................................................. 80

6.1.3 Analysis of the Multi-values of Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces ...................................... 81

6.1.4 Protection Area and Core Area of Agricultural Heritage Zoned ............................. 86

6.2 Further Initiatives to Promote GIAHS ............................................................................... 87

6.2.1 Protection of Agriculture Ecosystem ....................................................................... 87

6.2.2 Protection of Agricultural Culture ........................................................................... 88

6.2.3 Protection of Agricultural Landscape ...................................................................... 89

6.2.4 Development of Eco-Agriculture ............................................................................ 90

6.2.5 Development of Recreational Agriculture ............................................................... 91

6.2.6 Construction of Cultural self-esteem ....................................................................... 92

6.2.7 Construction of Management Ability ...................................................................... 93

6.3 Strategies to Cope with Threats and Challenges ................................................................ 94

6.3.1 Challenges ............................................................................................................... 94

6.3.2 Strategies to Cope with Challenges ......................................................................... 97

6.4 Financial Support ............................................................................................................... 98


IV

6.4.1 Financing Channel .................................................................................................. 98

6.4.2 Utilization of Funds................................................................................................. 99

6.4.3 Supervision and Inspection ..................................................................................... 99

Reference ....................................................................................................................................... 101

Appendixes .................................................................................................................................... 103


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1 System Characteristics

Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces is located at Xinhua County of Loudi City, Hunan

Province, China. This proposed GIAHS site covers the entire Xinhua County,

including 26 towns, with a total area of 3642 Km2. The core area of this site is located

at N27°28′-27°45′ and E110°52′-111°00′, consists of three towns, namely Shuiche

town, Fengjia town and Wentian town, with a total area of 460 Km2. As a typical rice

terraces agro-ecosystem, Xinhua County has the total area of terraces for more than

200,000mu (15 mu=1 ha), in which the core area accounts for around 80,000 mu.

Those terraces are mostly located at the altitude between 500m and 1000m, with an

average gradient of about 30°, in which the gradient of the steepest area could reach

50° or more. Within Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces, the largest piece of paddy filed is no

larger than one mu and the smallest piece of paddy filed can only be planted with

dozens of seedlings. Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces is famous for its large scale, steep

slopes, small and sophisticated pieces of paddy fields, and its beautiful landscape

(Figure 1).

Figure 1. Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces

Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces had already been developed into considerable scale in

the Song Dynasty with its heyday arrived in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Xinhua

Ziquejie Terraces has a long history for more than 1,000 years, which is jointly

created by local indigenous people of Miao, Yao and Dong ethnic groups, and Han.

Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces are the historical and cultural relics that integrated and


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blended rice culture and the fishing and hunting culture of mountainous region in

southern China, mostly inhabited by Miao and Yao ethnic groups. The traditional

farming methods and the use of natural gravity irrigation system of the Xinhua

Ziquejie Rice Terraces are unique in the rice culture. Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces have

been successively selected as National AAAA Tourist Attraction, National Scenic

Spot, National Natural and Cultural Heritage, National Water Conservancy Scenic

Area, China Nationally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems, and one of the first

batch of World Heritage Irrigation Structure nominated by ICID (International

Commission on Irrigation and Drainage).

Global (National) Importance

Model for Sustainable Utilization of Water Resources

The most unique feature of the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces is its natural gravity

irrigation system. Located in the hilly area with prevailing subtropical monsoon

climate, the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces are a typical erodible and fragile southern hilly

area with concentrated rainfall and frequent and intense rainstorm. To overcome the

natural hazards, ancestors of the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces created a variety of

techniques in water sources conservation, water storage, water retention, water

delivery and irrigation, and they realized the natural gravity irrigation with simple and

effective engineering facilities. With the natural gravity irrigation system applied and

the scientific approach for water management inherited from generation to generation,

ancestors of the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces effectively controlled the natural hazards,

such as soil erosion and drought. The natural gravity irrigation system of the Xinhua

Ziquejie Terraces is a perfect irrigation system and also a perfect water and soil

conservation infrastructure created by the ancestors of the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces,

which could be seen as a demonstration model of the harmony between mankind and

nature, water and soil conservation of ecosystems, sustainable development of

agriculture and sustainable utilization of water resources in the southern hilly areas in

the past thousand years. The infrastructure was very well-established and is still in

effective use till now, which can maintain the normal daily routine and production for


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local farmers as well as maintain the sustainable development of agriculture in the

future. It can be a significant reference for farmers in other similar regions in the

world.

Model for Food Production and Soil and Water Conservation in

Mountainous Regions

The Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces has gone through the transition from fishing and

hunting civilization to agriculture civilization. Historically, this region was a

multi-ethnic community inhabited by many ethnic groups except for Han, including

Miao, Yao, Dong and other ethnic groups. Through the development and cultivation

of limited mountainous land, local ancestors solved the food shortage problem caused

by population growth and set a precedent for rice cultivation agriculture; they also

ensured and inherited the development of civilization and the integration of different

ethnic groups. Meanwhile, terraced cultivation methods adopted at the Xinhua

Ziquejie Terraces are all in accordance with the local topography and landform, and

play an important role in the water and soil conservation.

Effective Model for Resilience to Extreme Climate Events

The three-dimensional landscape constituted by forest, villages, terraces and river

is formed in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces. The forest at the top of the system plays an

important and effective role in water regulation and storage. The natural gravity

irrigation system of the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces formed a unique ecosystem jointly

with the forest vegetation and terrain that can provide efficient irrigation even in years

with extreme drought events and thus set a model to successfully deal with the

negative effects of climate change.

The Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces include terraced agricultural production system,

natural ecosystems, the natural gravity irrigation system, the mountainous cultural

system, and integrated landscape system; the specific characteristics of the system are

mainly reflected in the following aspects:


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1.1 Food and Livelihood Safety

1.1.1 Variety of Food Resources

The Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces provide land security to ensure the food and

livelihood security for local farmers. The area is the typical region for the cultivation

of middle-season rice, with humid climate and suitable temperature. Rice cultivation

is the most important agriculture development in this region. In addition to rice

production, the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces also produce wheat, corn, beans, potatoes,

oil crops, herbs, vegetables and fruits, etc. Local farmers are good at making use of

local resources. Rice is their major food. The plantation of a variety of crops

guarantees the food security for the future generation in this region.

Table 1. Area and of Output of Crops in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces

Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces Core Area

Area (mu) Output(ton) Area (mu) Output(ton)

Rice 821764 386868 55492 26964

Wheat 13610 2724 928 185

Corn 255601 85317 16850 6425

Other cereals 1119 1821 531 450

Beans 38496 5409 2939 423

Tuber crops 88854 29161 13648 4429

Oil crops 117975 11626 9695 736

Herbs 82225 42166 11151 8328

Vegetables 126436 188342 9283 10921

Melons 21106 72711 428 1226

Other crops 152529 15875

In addition to the cultivation of different crops, almost all the rural households in

the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces raise a different number of poultry and livestock to

provide meat, eggs and other related products to enrich their foods and nutrition.

Table 2. Poultry and Livestock Farming in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces

Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces Core Area

Stocks

Sales/Home

Slaughtered

Stocks Sales/Home

Slaughtered

Pig (10 thousands) 944988 1575337 64373 97402

Cattle (10 thousands) 206548 83588 13876 7818

Sheep (10 thousands) 92940 94733 7584 8664


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Poultry (10 thousands) 360 574 28 53

Total meat production(tons)

112252 7315

Egg production (tons)

3245 181

Fish, shrimp and other aquatic organisms, wild or farmed by farmers in paddy

fields in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces, ponds and rivers are also the important food

sources for local farmers. The annual output of aquatic product at the Xinhua Ziquejie

Terraces is about 25,000 tons, among which the annual output of the core area is about

1,200 tons.

1.1.2 Variety of Forest Products

There are rich forest resources in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces. There are about

200,000 ha of forest land, 170,000 ha of forests, 7×106 m

3 of forest volume, and

3.55×106 m

3 of timber volume, of which 1.01×106

m3 are the timber volume of firs

and 4.5×105 m

3 of masson pines. Economic forests mainly consist of honeysuckle,

tea-oil tree, Chinese chestnut, Eucommia ulmoides olive and tea trees, with a total

area of 3443 ha. As one of the important forest resources in local area, phyllostachys

pupescens consists of a total area of 30,000 ha and accumulated 62.34 millionplants.

These important forest resources provide a lot of timber, herbs, foods and other forest

products for local farmers (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Forest products of Xinhua Ziquejie Terraced region

1.1.3 Important Source of Income

As one of the traditional agricultural areas, agriculture and husbandry have

become the main sources of income for local farmers at the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces.


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The GDP of Xinhua County in 2013 was 16.87 billion RMB, of which the primary

industry was 4.66 billion RMB, the secondary industry was 5.70 billion RMB and the

tertiary industry was 6.51 billion RMB, respectively. The ratio of these three

industries was 27.6: 33.8: 38.6 (Figure. 3), in which the proportion of agriculture is far

greater than that of the national average (10%).

Figure 3. Industrial structure of the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces

1.1.4 High Quality Traditional Rice Varieties

The cultivation of traditional rice varieties in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces has

been served as the basis for local agricultural development. These traditional rice

varieties are of high quality and rich in nutrients. In addition to being consumed as

staple food, most of the rice varieties are processed into secondary products or made

into a variety of liquor products for sales. On the one hand, rice cultivation meets the

food needs of local farmers; on the other hand, it also increases the income of local

farmers through the sales of secondary products. Among them, the black tribute rice

and red rice are two most distinctive rice varieties in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces

with their high quality (Figure. 4). The black tribute rice is characterized by dwarf

plant and cold-resistant features, but it has the relative low yield of only 250-300 kg

per Mu. The black tribute rice is a kind of round rice with dark and bright brown

colors, which has intense flavor, soft and delicious taste. Since it is rich in selenium,

the black tribute rice can help to build stronger kidneys. The red rice has long stalks

and is characterized by cold-resistant and excellent disease resistance features, but it is

4.66 (27.60%)

5.7 (33.80%)

6.51 (38.60%)

Industrial Structure of the Ziquejie Terraces

(Unit: billion RMB)

Primary industry

Secondary industry

Tertiary industry


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vulnerable to lodging and has the relative low yield of 200-250 kg per Mu. The

planting area that is most suitable for red rice is mountainous area with the altitude of

more than 800 meters. The red rice is a kind of slender rice with crystal clear color

and soft and delicious taste. With high glutinous content and rich iron element, the red

rice has amazing blood tonic function. Currently, traditional rice products of Xinhua

Ziquejie Terraces are developed based on the high quality of these important features

of traditional rice varieties and some products have been certified as the organic

products, or the product of geographical indications issued by the Ministry of

Agriculture, which has further promoted local agricultural development and increased

the income of local farmers.

Table 3. Main Trace Element Components in Tribute Rice of Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces

Main Nutrients Common Rice Tribute Rice of

Ziquejie Terraces

Tribute Rice of Ziquejie

Terraces/ Common Rice

Selenium 0.015mg 0.041mg 173%

Iron 4.8mg 16.72mg 248%

Calcium 64mg 138.55mg 116.5%

Zinc 13mg 23.63mg 81.8%

Figure 4. The black tribute rice and red rice in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces

1.2 Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function

1.2.1 Biodiversity

(1) Agricultural biodiversity


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There are 8 traditional rice varieties cultivated in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces,

including: Baisha Glutinous rice, Yunnong Glutinous rice and Jing No.1 Glutinous

rice, MaGu red rice and black tribute rice (Figure 5), black rice, purple scented rice

and red rice (See Annexed Table 1). There are also about 150 hybrid rice varieties,

including T-you 705, Ling Liang-you 942, Zhu Liang-you 819, Lu Liang-you 996,

T-you 111, Ⅱ You Hang 2, Yang Liang-you 6, Y Liang-you 1, Y Liang-you 7, Shen

Liang-you 5814, Wu-you 308, Tian-you 998, T-you 272, T-you 207, Jin-you 117,

Feng-you 9, Shen-you 9586, Fengyuan-you 299, and so on.

Figure 5. Traditional Rice Varieties Cultivated in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces

In addition to a variety of rice varieties, there are also lots of other crops planted

in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces, including corn, potatoes, beans and other traditional

varieties of finger millet, foxtail millet, and Tartary buckwheat. Locally grown

soybean, black bean, rice bean, green bean, broad bean and potatoes are also

traditional varieties and considered as important germplasm resources. Oil crops

planted there mainly include oilseed rape, tea-oil tree and peanuts. There are also

different vegetables, such as cabbage, radish, carrot, celery, squash, peppers and so on;

and fruits, such as chestnut, bayberry, grapes, loquat, grapefruit and so on. In addition,

different kinds of herbal plants are also planted in this region, including honeysuckle,

Officinal Magnolia Bark, Eucommia ulmoides olive, Amur Grape Stem, Medicinal

Evodia Fruit, Cape jasmine, ginkgo, Fragrant Solomonseal Rhizome, lily, gastrodia

elata, pearl barley, Polygonatum, Rhizoma Belamcandae, platycodon grandiflorum ,


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Gynostemma pentaphyllum, Atractylis ovata, Rhizoma Coptidis, Indian Buead,

nodakenin, herbaceous peony, chrysanthemum, Heartleaf Houttuynia Herb,

Scrophularia ningpoensis Hemsl, honeysuckle and others (See Annexed Table 2).

Many varieties of local livestock like chickens, ducks, pigs, cattle, sheep and

other livestock are also extensively farmed in local area, of which there are three

Yellow Hair Chicken, Barred Plymouth Rock chickens, laying hens, black-bone

chicken and other chicken varieties; in terms of duck varieties, there are Shaoxing

duck, southern egg-laying duck, Beijing ducks and other species (Figure 6); pig

breeds include Landrace pig, Large Yorkshire, Duroc, Xiangxi Black pig, Ningxiang

pigs, DLY (Hybrids of Duroc, Landrace and Large Yorkshire ) and other species;

cattle breeds are Xiangnan Yellow cattle, Xiangxi Yellow cattle, hybrids of Angus

cattle and local cattle breeds, hybirds of Lee Limousin and local cattle breeds, and

hybirds of Simmental Beef Cattle and local cattle breeds, sheep and goat breeds

include black goats and Boar Goats and other species (See Annexed Table 3).

Figure 6. Chicken and Duck Raised in Local Farm House

The Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces are also rich in diversity of aquatic organisms,

including fish, shelled animals, Amphibians, mollusks, insects and other aquatic

organisms, among which there are 23 kinds of fish, including crucian (Figure 7), grass

carp, cyprinoid fish, fresh-water bream and Parabramis pekinensis (See Annexed

Table 4).


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Figure 7. Small Crucian in Paddy Fields

(2)Associated biodiversity

The Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces are covered by dense forests and its vegetation is in

good conditions. There are 99 plant families with 258 plants genera and 933 species in

this region. Among them, 20 plant species belong to class I, II and III

of national protected plants respectively, with 5 species of class I

national protected plants, including ginkgo, Metasequoia, Taxus chinensis and others;

11 species of second class II national protected plants, including Pseudolarix amabilis,

Emmenopterys henryi, Cercidiphyllum japonicum and others, and 4 species of class

III national protected plants, including Tapiscia sinensis Oliv, Pteroceltis tatarinowii

and others (See Annexed Table 5). Forest coverage of the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces is

up to 68%, nurturing many precious wildlife resources. There are 41 kinds of animals

listed as class I, II, III national protected animals respectively (not including insects).

Among them, there are 2 class I national protected animals, namely the clouded

leopard and python; 13 class II national protected animals, including Macaque,

Pangolins, otters, large Viverra and others; 26 class III national protected animals,

including fox, yellow weasel, and others. (See Annexed Table 6)

1.2.2 Ecosystem Services

Currently, the classification system for ecosystem services widely recognized by

international society is that proposed by MA (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment)

Working Group. In this system, ecosystem services are summarized into four main


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categories according to the types of services, namely provisioning, regulating, culture,

and supporting. Through diversified and stable production, the Xinhua Ziquejie

Terraces solve the livelihood and food security problems for local farmers and help to

conserve biodiversity and inherit traditional culture in local areas. In addition, the

Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces also have many other important ecosystem services, which

are mainly reflected in the following aspects:

(1) Water Conservation

The distribution of rainfall in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces is uneven, with less

rainfall in late summer and early autumn. In drought years, crop failure would often

occur in lots of rice fields down the hills, while paddy fields in the Xinhua Ziquejie

Terraces suffer little from the droughts. Without ponds or water reservoirs, adequate

water resources in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces can be attributed to the huge invisible

water reservoir formed by forests, soils and terraces automatically. The top of

mountains in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces are covered by dense forests, which

provide good conditions for the retention of rain and water. Local mountains were

built with granite that featured with solid bottom and less fractures, which served as

the water-proof bottom of this invisible reservoir. In addition, the soil on top of the

granite is sandy loam that can absorb rainfall very well, and then exudate water evenly,

thus helps to form the excellent water conservation system. Soil water storage

capacity of this region is up to 0.3m3. Based on the topsoil is 40cm in depth, 27,784

ha of forest soils in the core area can store water up to 3.3×107

m3.

(2) Soil Retention

Soil retention is an important aspect of ecosystem services. Covered by dense

forests, the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces are rich in a variety of plants. Forests in this

region are mainly formed by cedar forests, chestnut forests and bamboo forests, mixed

in a variety of shrubs featured with herbal plants, mainly ferns. Soil fixation character

of vegetation roots is realized by the organic matter secreted by plants, which can

therefore cement the soil and make them strong enough to resist the soil erosion. The

canopy of tall trees intercept rain drops to undermine the erosion force of rain splash


12

directly on the soil, while the regulation of the ground vegetation and the litter layer

on precipitation and runoff basically eliminate the erosion forces of rainfall from the

top and runoff on the surface of the soil. Therefore, this ecosystem can help to achieve

better soil conservation, which is reflected in avoiding the waste of land, reducing

sediment deposition and preventing the loss of soil nutrients. Based on the literatures,

the amount of forest soil erosion in the core area of the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces was

calculated with the moderate erosion modulus of 200 t / hm2﹒a. It turned out that the

total annual amount of soil retention by vegetation is about 5.5 million tons.

(3) Climate Regulation

For the capital city of Xinhua County, the average temperature is 16.9 ℃, with

the extreme maximum temperature of 40.1 ℃ and the extreme minimum

temperature of -10.7 ℃. Green vegetation can lower the heat in summer through the

canopy shade and regulate transpiration. The core area of Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces

has high vegetation coverage that can help to achieve significant climate regulation

effects. The core area is enveloped by clouds year round with less direct sunlight. It

enjoys the cool climate with an average temperature of 13.7 ℃, which is 3 ℃ lower

than that of the capital city of Xinhua County. It shows the important climate

regulation value of the terrace ecosystems in this region.

(4) Eco-Environment Improvement for Farmlands

Rice-duck and rice-fish are two important compound cultivation models in the

Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces, which can greatly improve the eco-environment of

farmlands. In terms of the rice-duck model, first of all, it can greatly improve the

economic benefits from agriculture; secondly, it can enhance the quality of rice by

reducing the use of parathion and heavy metal contents in it; thirdly, significant

ecological benefits can be generated. Ducks raised in the paddy fields can prey on

pests of rice and some sclerotia mycelium, which can remove the diseased leaves of

rice, old leaves and the weeds. Therefore, these activities can effectively control and

eliminate the rice sheath blight, Chilo suppressalis, rice leaf folder, rice plant hopper,

rice grasshoppers, armyworm and other pests of rice and paddy weeds. By taking


13

worms and young grass as fodder, ducks can prevent insect from damaging rice plants

and their manure can be used as fertilizer for the rice fields. In the meantime, their

activities in the paddy fields can help to loosen the soil, which will both greatly

improve the permeability of paddy soil and reduce the hazards of toxic substances

while accelerating the decomposition, absorption of fertilizer. In addition, ducks can

also help to achieve better intertillage weeding and thus accelerate the root

development of rice and realize the faster sprouting. In terms of rice-fish model, after

fish are put into the paddy fields, their feeding and other activities will help to loosen

the paddy soil and change the soil aggregate structure, which is beneficial to the

respiration and development of rice roots, and thus in turn contributing to the effective

rice tillers. Meanwhile, biological magnification of weeds and plankton is weakened,

thereby reducing the methane emissions in paddy fields. The fish waste contains rich

nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, which can help to reduce the use of

nitrogen and phosphate fertilizers in the paddy fields. This model can greatly reduce

the damages of tryporyza incertulas, vertical leaf roller, rice plant hopper, rice leaf

insects and other disease and insects to rice and thus greatly reduce the use of

pesticides. In addition, activities of fish in rice fields can also partially help to realize

biological prevention and control of pests and diseases of rice by prey on insects and

thus help to achieve better ecological benefits.

(5) Gas Regulation

Trees, shrubs and grass can help to stabilize CO2 in the atmosphere through

photosynthesis while releasing O2 at the same time; soil microbes consume O2 in the

atmosphere by respiration and release CO2 simultaneously, which help to maintain the

balance of CO2/O2 in the atmosphere. This plays a vital role in reducing the regional

greenhouse gas and mitigating global warming. According to the statistics of Forestry

Bureau, the forest land in the core area of Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces can fix Carbon for

about 689,129 tons and releasing oxygen for 507,329 tons annually. The total amount

of farmland and garden plots in the core area of Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces are about

10,111 ha, which can yield a total agricultural production for about 60,087 tons per


14

year. The annual fixed carbon of these areas was about 97,942 tons, meanwhile

72,104 tons of oxygen was released. Total annual carbon sequestration of the core

area of Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces amounted to 787,000 tons, with the amount of

released oxygen up to 579,000 tons.

(6) Environmental Purification

Green plants can directly absorb atmospheric pollutants through their leaf tissues,

such as SO2, fluorides, NO2, Cl2, O3, etc. They can also dissolve part of the water

soluble contaminants by the wet leaf surface. Based on the air quality monitoring

results of the capital city of Xinhua County in 2013 by Bureau of Meteorological,

Bureau of Agriculture, and Bureau of Animal Husbandry in Xinhua County, the

average content of SO2, NO2, TSP was 0.076 mg/Nm3, 0.033 mg/Nm

3, and 0.089

mg/Nm3, respectively. According to the air quality monitoring data in areas near

Fengjia Village, Xi-xi Village and Longpu Village within the core area of Xinhua

Ziquejie Terraces, the average content of SO2, NO2, TSP, PM10 was 0.029 mg/Nm3,

0.017 mg/Nm3, 0.054 mg/Nm

3, 0.036 mg/Nm

3, respectively. Since the standard

values of SO2, NO2 and TSP contents in atmosphere are 0.15 mg/Nm3, 0.10 mg/Nm

3

and 0.15 mg/Nm3, respectively, the air quality of the core area of Xinhua Ziquejie

Terraces is obviously superior to that of the capital area of Xinhua County and is far

below the standard value of SO2, NO2 and TSP.

1.3 Knowledge Systems and Adapted Technologies

As the dominant cultivation model in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces, paddy fields

in this region are supplemented by rain fed cropland. The unique rice terraces farming

methods formed in the past thousand years are still widely in use, including the

compound ecological cultivation model in paddy fields, the natural gravity irrigation

system, the construction and maintenance method of traditional terraced fields, the

traditional rice cultivation techniques, the traditional cultivation techniques for finger

millet in dryland, the traditional techniques to maintain soil fertility, the traditional

ecological pest control technology and the traditional farming tools.


15

1.3.1 Compound Ecological Cultivation Model in Paddy Fields

(1) Rice-duck Model

Rice-duck model is commonly practiced by local farmers in the Xinhua Ziquejie

Terraces. Local Farmers usually select paddy fields with adequate water resource and

plenty of sunlight to provide appropriate habitats and food source for ducks. They

select the high-quality rice varieties with compact plant type, high yield, and strong

resistance. They also select fine duck species with relatively small or medium body

size to ensure their adaptation to the rice planting density, which enables the ducks

freely travel in the paddy fields for food and other activities. In terms of timing, in late

May when the transplanted rice resumes growth and enters peak tilling period,

ducklings are put into the rice fields for free-range farming. During the day, ducklings

foraging in the field prey on larvae and weeds and at night they return to duck sheds

on their own (local houses are generally the wooden structure and the bottom layer

usually taken for keeping poultry). Corn and other grains are added to the fodder for

the ducks to fatten up and gain weight. By the end of September, after the rice is

harvested, mature ducks remain in the field to pick up scattered rice and prey on field

pests. When the Double Ninth Festival arrives, mature ducks can be used for food or

sold out. October to next April, a proportion of female duck are kept and fed for egg

laying, or re-breeding. Rice-duck model is shown as in table 4.

Table 4. Annual Circle of Rice-duck Model

Month 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Rice

growing

season

Fallow

period

Period of

resuming growth

and tilling

Rice

harvest

season

Fallow period

Duck

growing

season

re-breeding

period for female

duck

Ducklings are

put into the

paddy fields

Growing season for

ducklings

Mature

ducks

(2) Rice-fish Model

Rice-fish model is also commonly practiced by local farmers in the Xinhua

Ziquejie Terraces. Local farmers usually select paddy fields with low altitude,

adequate water resource, convenient irrigation and drainage, good water quality, good

water retention conditions and sufficient sunlight. Ridges of selected paddy fields are


16

usually heightened and reinforced to prevent water leakage, since ridge collapse and

floods over the ridge that might cause the loss of fish in the paddy fields. Small ponds

digged in the paddy fields are usually called fish pits, which usually consist about 5%

to l0% of the total area of the paddy fields. Digging fish pits are considered as the key

step in fish-farming in local areas, followed by fish ditch excavation, usually in the

shape of “Cross” or "#". Various shapes can be adopted in fish ditch with the

prerequisite of ensuring smooth movement of fish to the larger areas of paddy fields.

Meanwhile, bamboo fences are set up at both the water inlet and outlet of the paddy

fields to prevent the escape of adult fish. The size of fish ditch usually is 60cm in

width and 50cm in depth. , The ditching is normally conducted 20 to 30 days before

rice planting.

Between the Spring Equinox in March and Tomb Sweeping Day in April, it is the

time for the first plowing, maturing basic fertilizer (organic fertilizer) and repairing

the ridge. In late April, it is time for the second plowing, harrowing, and repairing the

ridges with mud. From late May to early June, when transplanted rice resumes growth

and begins tilling, small fish fry are put into the fish pits and they begin to slip

through the pond into the paddy fields to conduct foraging activities. From late June

to late August, the rice enters into the heading, flowering, and milk ripeness stage.

During this lush growth period of rice, fish is fed on insects in the field (leaf borer,

rice plant hopper, etc.) and continue to grow. In early September, grown fish can be

harvested, sold and consumed, while small fish are left to continue to grow. From

October to March in the following year, the paddy fields are flooded and enter the

fallow period, when fish are left in the pond for overwintering. The rice-fish model is

shown as in table 5.

Table 5. Annual Circle of Rice-fish Model

Month 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Rice

growing

season

Fallow

period

Period of

resuming

growth and

tillering

Harvest

season Fallow season

Growing Overwintering Fish fry are Growing season Adult


17

season for

fish in

paddy fields

period for small

fish

put into the

paddy fields

for small fish fish

1.3.2 Natural Gravity Irrigation System

Ancestors of the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces built terraces according to local

topography, geology, soil, vegetation and water resource features. They also created

the effective natural gravity irrigation system with simple engineering facilities, which

form a unique landscape of irrigation project in paddy fields. The natural gravity

irrigation system was selected as one of the first batch of World Heritage Irrigation

Structure by International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) in 2014. It

consists of three parts, including water storage facilities, irrigation and drainage canal

system, and control facilities. Irrigation of the large-scale terraced lands in the Xinhua

Ziquejie Terraces mainly relies on the diversion irrigation from stream water. The

direct irrigation of individual water source only covers part of the terraced lands

located on the edge. Therefore the altitude of the terraced lands is determined by that

of the water from the creeks. Since the irrigation water source can be accumulated by

creek dams to intercept and diverse the water, many small barrages were built above

streams on local mountains by ancestors of this region (Figure 8). Those barrages

were about 1 meter in height and about 2 to 3 meters in length, and had multiple

functions such as river closure, spillway, sediment disposal and channel water, etc.

Those barrages were built at different altitudes according to the water supply needs of

terraced fields. According to the status quo, there are 69 barrages in this region.


18

Figure 8. Water Reservoir

Creek water is delivered to terraced fields through the conveyance channels.

Since the amount of water used for irrigation is relatively small and the length,

cross-section and flow rate of the conveyance channels are all small, those delivery

channels are also named Mao Chuan (referring to the small capacity and construction)

by the local people. Generally, those Mao Chuan in the fields do not run through the

fields directly, instead, they bypass the inside nor outside along the terraced fields, in

between are low ridges separating the drainage and the terraced fields (Figure 9).

Irrigation in the terraced fields adopts the method of consecutive irrigation and

drainage, which takes narrow terraced lands as the water channels of the adjacent

fields and thus realizes the irrigation through terraced fields (Figure 10). To prevent

the collapse of the ridge caused by erosion, while the water inflow from the terraced

fields at higher level to lower-level terraced fields, bamboo with knots broke through

were used as tray (small aqueduct) to diverse the water flow, which enables the water

to be transported to terraced fields in long distance. (Figure 11)

Figure 9. Mao Chuan in Terraced Fields


19

Figure 10. Irrigation system through Terraced Fields

Figure 11. Bamboo Tray as Aqueduct

1.3.3 Traditional Construction and Maintenance Technology of Terraces

The soil in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces is sandy loam soil featured with light

soil texture, which makes the construction of terraced fields to be of great difficulty.

Therefore, gradual construction methods were adopted by local farmers in

constructing terraced fields. Firstly, excavation of dry lands were conducted in the

gentle slopes; after a period of cultivation, dry lands in the gentle slopes became

flatter dry lands; secondly, measures were taken to transform the dry lands into

tablelands in accordance to local irrigation conditions and gradually turn them into

cultivated lands; the final step is to gradually transform the tablelands into terraced

rice fields. Through the process of dry lands-tablelands-paddy fields and repeatedly

scarifying, fertilization and gradual cultivation, the construction quality of terraced

fields is guaranteed; the fertility of terraced fields is stabilized, while the impermeable

and durable character of ridges is ensured.


20

The traditional maintenance technology of terraced fields mainly used is to soak

the fields in water during winter and conduct repeated ridge repairs in spring. On the

one hand, after the harvest of mature rice in fall every year, the paddy fields are

irrigated and soaked in water till the spring of the coming year. The water being

reserved in the fields is about 10-20 cm in depth, and local farmers use different ways

to find and fix holes in the ridges. On the other hand, local farmers generally plow and

plough the terraced fields in autumn and winter, and they also plough and level the

terraced fields for 2-3 more times before planting rice in spring (Figure 12).

Ploughing under dry conditions requires suitable soil moisture. Generally it is the best

time when the soil is humid and its maximum water holding capacity is about 70%.

An important part of the soil preparation process is called “paste ridges”, i.e. to clean

up and repair the ridges (Figure 13). Usually when the terraced fields are ploughed for

the first time, weeds on the ridges will be removed and thrown into the fields to be

buried by soil to ensure rotting. When the terraced fields are ploughed for the second

time and irrigated, ooze is used to increase the thickness of the ridge by about 10 cm.

The pasted ridges are left for dry in the sun for about three days before ooze is used to

level up the sides of the ridges for the second time with the main purpose to increase

the thickness of the ridges and ensure its leakage-proof, water retention and prevent

the collapse of the terraced fields. In addition, to prevent eel and mud fish from

drilling holes that might result in leakage caused by the penetration in the ridges, local

farmers would light up at nights for observation.

Figure 12. Farm Cattle Ploughing in the Terraced Fields


21

Figure 13.Maintaining Ridges of the Terraced Fields

1.3.4 Traditional Rice Cultivation Technology

(1) Traditional Technology for Raising Rice Seedlings

High quality seeds are the foundation for raising rice seedlings, while

accelerating germination is the key to the success. Since ancient times, local farmers

have mainly used large bamboo baskets or squared barrels for accelerating

germination. This method is relatively simple and easy to master. In the process of

accelerating germination, local farmers wash up the squared barrels first, then open

the cork on the one end with hole and slightly elevate the other nonporous end a little

for water draining. After that, the well soaked rice seeds are washed clean, drained

and poured into the squared barrels till 60 percent space of the squared barrels is filled

up. Straws are used to cover the seeds with heavy bricks or rocks on their top to

ensure insulation. According to the experience of local farmers, temperature should be

high in the period before the germination of the radicle (commonly known as chest

burst) of rice seeds to accelerate the germination, which is also considered as a key

step to prevent or reduce the failure of germination. The best temperature for

germination at this stage is about 40℃. After germination, the temperature shall be

lowered to about 30-35℃, while attention shall be paid to the moisture regulation and

good oxygen supply maintenance. When roots of most rice seeds broke out of the

chest, local farmers conduct a thorough turn over and add more fresh water while

maintaining the temperature between 30-35℃. After one night, they conduct thorough

turn over for the second time. At this point, the germination of rice seeds is basically


22

completed. The length of the roots to be geminated is determined by the weather. The

rice sprout shall be longer in good weather for the faster emergence of seedlings.

When the weather is bad, the rice sprout shall be shorter to enhance their cold

tolerance capacity. When the sprouts are of 0.33-0.66 cm in length and the roots are

about 1.32-1.65 cm in length, seedlings are ready for plantation in good weather.

Southward fields with sufficient sunlight are usually selected as rice seedling beds.

The soil texture is required to be loosen and fertile. The fields are required to be

fallow fields in the winter with smooth surface, even fertility, adequate water resource

and convenient drainage and irrigation.

(2) Traditional Technology for Determining the Rice Transplantation Time

Determination of timing is the key for the traditional rice transplantation

techniques. The long-term practical experience of local farmers shows that rice

seedling transplantation for the middle-season rice shall be completed between the

Beginning of Summer Festival to Grain Full Festival in May, which is about

half-month. According to the farming proverb, significant impact would be made on

the growth and yield of rice if the rice seedling transplantation is delayed for one day,

or even for one hour.

(3) Traditional Technology for Field Management

Intertillage weeding is an important field management measure to be used during

the tillering period (Figure 14). It can remove the weeds, reduce the consumption of

water and nutrients, improve soil air permeability and facilitate the fertilizer and soil

integration by increasing soil temperature, which is conducive to the decomposition of

manure and thus accelerate the growth of new root and tillering. As the farming

proverb says, “the soil shall be plowed by the iron plate and the mud shall be deeper

than one’s ankle”, “ploughing in the field three times makes the rice rounded like full

moon”, “ploughing in the field on sunny days is better than manure while ploughing

in the field on rainy days is worse than relaxing at home”. Intertillage weeding usually

is conducted when the transplanted rice seedlings turn green and before their

elongation stage. The first round of intertillage weeding shall be conducted early. The


23

earlier the intertillage weeding is conducted, the earlier tillering effects can be

achieved. Generally speaking, intertillage weeding can be carried out after the rice

seedlings are transplanted for 10 days, surviving successfully by turning green. About

7-10 days after the first round of intertillage weeding, the second round can be carried

out; and the last round shall be carried out at the late tillering stage to consolidate the

achievements of earlier tillering and to suppress the invalid tillering at later stage.

Intertillage weeding shall be conducted in sunny days as the farming proverbs

described previously. Before stepping, the fields shall be covered by shallow water.

Irrigation shall be conducted to deliver deep water in the fields after stepping, which

will help to drown the weeds easily. A small amount of lime could be used during the

second intertillage weeding. The fields are dry in the sun for about 2-3 days after

intertillage weeding; this can help to rotten the weeds. Meanwhile, barnyard grass and

other weeds that are hard to eliminate shall be removed manually by local farmers.

Figure 14. Weeding

1.3.5 Traditional Cultivation Technology for Finger Millet

Finger millet is a unique endemic species being planted in the dry lands of the

Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces. As a kind of annual herbs (Figure 15) and a kind of

food grains other than wheat and rice, finger millet can be made into delicious finger

millet Baba or made into porridge for human consumption. It is not only highly

welcomed by local people, but also has high medicinal value. Its straw can be woven


24

into baskets, hats and other decorative products, as well as being used as raw

materials for papermaking.

Figure 15. Finger Millet

Finger millet is usually grown in dry lands with an altitude higher than 800

meters. Yield of finger millet is normally low but with high economic values.

Cultivation of finger millet requires sophisticated techniques.

First, the key in finger millet cultivation is crop rotation. As the farming

proverb says, “continuous cropping of finger millet would cause the farmer to cry out,”

and “three years of continuous finger millet cropping would be worse than weeds”,

which explained the reasons why finger millet should avoid continuous cropping.

Continuous cropping of finger millet would cause serious plant disease and pests and

rampant weeds. Meanwhile, plantation of finger millet consume large portion of the

land fertility, and cause the soil compaction easily. Therefore, crop rotation is required

to ensure yields. Best choices for alternation of cropping prior to finger millet are

beans, potatoes, cotton, corn, and green manure. When sorghum or buckwheat is

selected as the alternative cropping prior to finger millet, yield of finger millet is

significantly lower.

Second, since seeds of finger millet are small, fine field preparation is required.

After the harvest of alternation cropping prior to finger millet, soil moisture shall be

maintained at an appropriate level. Early shallow plowing and stubble cleaning shall

be conducted to ensure soil moisture conservation for autumn plowing. Spring


25

ploughing shall ensure raking, levelling, farming and plowing and other site

preparation work to provide good conditions for the germination and growth of finger

millet. The base fertilizer for sowing finger millet in spring shall be conducted in the

fields during the autumn/winter farming period. For example the fertilizer is applied

in late fall, and a thorough turn over shall be conducted in the spring season.

Third, timely sowing shall be ensured. Spring sowing of finger millet in the

Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces shall be conducted after the Grain Rain Festival when the

average daily temperature is stabilized at around 15 ℃ and ground temperature

stabilized at more than 10 ℃. Summer sowing of finger millet shall be conducted as

early as possible.

Fourth, finger millet requires diligent intertillage weeding Intertillage weeding

can not only ensure drought resistance and soil moisture conservation, but also

remove weeds, loosen the soil, ensure the robust growth of finger millet, and improve

the quality of finger millet. At least three or four times of intertillage weeding are

required in finger millet cultivation. Plantation of finger millet shall ensure rational

dense planting. The first intertillage weeding shall be conducted during the thinning

and shallow ploughing of seedlings for weeding. The second intertillage weeding

shall be conducted during the final singling and shallow ploughing of seedlings. The

third intertillage weeding shall be conducted after jointing stage and combined with

maturing and deep ploughing as well as ridging. The fourth intertillage weeding shall

be conducted at the booting stage and combined with shallow ploughing as well as

weeding and soil loosening. When finger millet roots are exposed into the air because

of heavy rain, ridging shall be conducted timely.

1.3.6 Traditional Technology to Maintain Soil Fertility

The traditional composting of organic fertilizer mainly uses the rice straw or

grass collected from the hills. Those raw materials are put into the bottom of the hog

lots or cattle pens for animals to sleep on. When manure of livestock is completely

mixed with those raw materials, the bedding is raked out by iron rake and put onto the

flat ground to pile up for fermentation. This traditional composting method for


26

producing organic fertilizer is still in use by local farmers. Organic fertilizer after

composting is stacked to the corner of rice fields for application during spring sowing.

Application of organic fertilizer in the field increases the organic matter content of the

soil and the number of micro-aggregates in the soil to improve the physical properties

of the soil. In addition to nitrogen and potassium, there are more organic acid and

other trace elements in the organic fertilizers. The base fertilizer is used for the paddy

fields after they are soaked in cold water, to facilitate the elongation of rice roots. The

principle of “using the crude fertilizer as the basis while fine fertilizer on the surface”

shall be applied.

1.3.7 Traditional Ecological Technology for Pest Control

Insecticide at the Waking of Insects. At the Waking of Insects Festival of the

year, local farmers sprinkle lime water over the eaves and corners of their houses to

prevent insects and disease.

Ecological pest control. The most commonly used method is control of pests

by ducks or fish breeding in paddy fields within the rice-duck or rice-fish model. In

addition, the frogs are very well protected in this area to control pest.

Homemade pesticide for pest control. Plants such as Tea leave pies, tobacco

water and yellow vine, Chinese Azalea Flower and others are used to control pests.

1.3.8 Traditional Farming Tools

Terraced field farming in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces mainly relies on the

traditional labor-based methods by using manpower, animal power, hand tools, iron

tools and others. The traditional tools used in paddy farming include ploughs, iron

harrow, wood harrow, iron rakes, wood rakes, iron hoes, rakes with four teeth, and

others (Figure 16). The traditional tools for rice harvesting include sickles, squared

barrels, bamboo baskets, and bamboo dustpans, etc. (Figure 17), in which the squared

barrels are the most commonly seen and used. During the rice harvest season, rice

plants are cut down to dry in sunny weather for 1-2 days and then the farmers stand

around the squared barrels with rice plants in their hands to thresh the rice grain into

the squared barrels. The traditional drying tools are mainly bamboo mat (Figure 18)


27

which usually set aside in the flat ground to facilitate the storage. The traditional

drought resistant tools are mainly the dragon-bone waterwheel (Figure 19). The

uneven distribution of water in terraced fields forced farmers to take measures to

resist the drought events, which led to the invention of dragon-bone waterwheels that

are mainly used through manpower stepping to transport water from low-lying area to

the higher altitude regions. The traditional food processing tools include stone mills,

rocks for grinding rice, stone mortar, rice sieve, rounded pan, dust pan, etc. The other

traditional farming tools remained in local area include fishing baskets, rain clothes,

bamboo hats, wooden buckets, thick bamboo tube, etc. (Figure 20).

Figure 16. Traditional Farming Tools

Figure 17. Traditional Harvest Tools


28

Figure 18. Traditional Drying Tools for Rice and Grain

Figure 19. Dragon-bone Waterwheel

Figure 20. Other Traditional Farming Tools


29

1.4 Cultures, Value Systems and Social Organizations

The Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces located in a region that integrated and blended

southern rice culture and the fishing and hunting culture of mountainous region

inhabited mainly by Miao and Yao ethnic groups. The agricultural production in the

Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces is relatively lower than that of plain regions requiring local

people to gain more foods through other ways, such as capturing fish and shrimp as

well as animal hunting to sustain their daily lives. Meanwhile, the steep reclamation

of terraced fields and the humid and rainy weather led to the relatively high

probability of natural disasters, such as landslides, collapse and others. Historically,

the ancestors of the Miao, Yao and Dong ethnic groups were active in the Xinhua

Ziquejie terraces for a long period of time. Therefore, the unique natural conditions,

the rich natural resources, the production mode combining farming, fishing and

hunting, the succession of many ethnic groups over a long period of time in this

region, and together with many other factors, have resulted in the diverse and

distinctive intangible cultural heritage in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces, which are the

important characteristics of the traditional culture of the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces

(See Table 6).

Table 6. List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces

Item level Numbers Examples Notes

National level 2 Xinhua Folk Songs, Martial Arts of Meishan

Provincial level

(Hunan Province) 2 Xinhua Folk Songs, Martial Arts of Meishan

Including

national

level

City level

(Loudi City) 2 Hometown of Chiyou, Waters of Meishan

County level

( Xinhua County) 15

legend of Tianzishan Mountain, Sanhe Soup,

Bamboo Weaving of Meishan, Changxin

Festival, Meishan Elegy, Nuo Lion Mask Dance,

Meishan Nuo Opera, Bamboo Drama of Xinhua,

Di Hua Drums, Xinhua Printmaking, Meishan

Medicine

Including

provincial

level


30

1.4.1 Traditional Belief Featured with Unique Wu Nuo Witchcraft Culture

Traditional cultural beliefs in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces reflect characteristics

of Wu Nuo witch craft culture, which takes the polytheism as the main feature (Figure

21). Wu Nuo folk activities expressed the worship of local people to the ancestor

named Chiyou. Meanwhile, through the worship of the founder Zhang Wulang and

White Goddess that represent the gods of Meishan, local people express their hope

and good wishes of achieving harmonious coexistence with the natural environment

and maintaining sustainable development.

First of all, Nuo opera (Figure 22), Nuo dance, Nuo lion mask dance (Figure 23)

are important activities to express worship for Chiyou. Nuo opera, Nuo dance and

Nuo lion mask dance are dance forms developed and evolved from primitive ritual

activities. The actors performed with props, such as Nuo mask, wood knife, wood gun,

dummy, and musical instruments and other props, and dance moves to express

people’s worship for their ancestors.

Secondly, though the worship for gods of mountains, gods of waters, gods of

thunder and other gods, local people express their hopes and good wishes of achieving

harmony with the natural environment. For example, local people pray for good

weather and abundant harvests in the coming year by inviting Taoist priest at the

Lunar New Year day to resort to magic arts, which actually express the people’s

reverence for the natural environment.

Thirdly, local people shows their worship for gods mastering the production

techniques to express their hope for a better life, such as founder Zhang Wulang, who

mastered the techniques of hunting and fishing and was able to cut a mountain for

cultivating fields; and the White Goddess who was in charge of poultry. These unique

beliefs help people to constrain their daily behavior and protect the environment of the

terraced fields actively. For example, bounded by beliefs mentioned previously, local

people will not cut down trees on the upper terraced fields and will not destroy the

mountains in the upper areas for farming purposes as well. Traditional beliefs are of

great importance to maintain the sustainable development of the terraced fields.


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Figure 21. Nuo Mask

Figure 22. Nuo Drama

Figure 23. Nuo Lion Mask Dance

1.4.2 Unique Festivals and Customs

Special festivals and customs of the Ziquejie terraces are listed as the following:


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Figure 24. Festivals and Customs of the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces

(1) Eating Glutinous Rice Cake on Spring Sacrifice Day

The Spring Equinox is named as Spring Sacrifice Day by Xinhua people, which

signals the coming of spring. This is also a time for snakes and other pests to wake up

from their winter hibernation. Therefore, people would use glutinous rice cake to stick

the pests in their holes with the hope to prevent them from harming the agricultural

production in the coming year. This practice has gradually evolved into the custom of

eating of glutinous rice cake on Spring Sacrifice Day. In Xinhua region, people call

the glutinous rice cake ate on Spring Sacrifice Day as “Che Ba”, which means “stick

the snake holes” in local expression. There is an old saying that “eating the glutinous

rice cake on Spring Sacrifice Day can expel snakes from the house”.

(2) Celebrating the Birthday of Cattle on April 8th of Lunar Calendar

Cattle have a very important position in the hearts of Xinhua people. Xinhua

people believe that April 8th of Lunar Calendar is the birthday of cattle. On this

special day, both farmers and cattle are given a day off from working to show the

respect and care of farmers for the cattle.

(3) Changxin Festival

On June 6th of Lunar Calendar, Xinhua people make glutinous rice cake from

the newly harvested rice to sacrifice for gods and also to pray for a good harvest in the

coming year.

(4) Middle-autumn Festival

In Xinhua, except for the common customs of eating moon cakes during the

Mid-Autumn Festival, local people carry on some other activities, such as burning


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pagoda, stealing vegetables from the fields, praying for children. Among them,

praying for children is a unique folk activity to Xinhua and is also very popular.

Burning pagoda: people build hollow pagoda piled with crocks and burn

firewood inside. By 9 or 10 pm, the pagoda is burned into red all over it. When

burning pagoda activity reaches its climax, powder mixed with sulfur, charcoal,

saltpeter are thrown to the pagoda, causing the rising of the red and green flames from

the fire.

Stealing vegetables from the fields: during the Middle-autumn Festival, people

are allowed to steal vegetables and fruits from someone else’s garden, which is

forgivable even being caught by the owner. But the stolen vegetables and fruits can

only be eaten on site, taking away is not allowed.

Praying for children: children steal a wax gourd, dress it up as a boy, and then

put it on the bed of the people who has no boys. After eating the peanuts and

sunflower seeds offered by the host, the children are ready to leave. One of the

children might suddenly claim something is forgotten on the “wax gourd boy” being

left in bed and run over to it and pull the melon wine, then the water in the wax gourd

bursts out and wet the quilt. At this moment, all children would clap their hands and

shout “Oh ho ho – urine is released!” in loud voices. The host would laugh with joy

together with those children rather than scold them. This game is highly welcomed

and enjoyed by both adults and children in Xinhua County.

(5) Slaughter of Pig on the Laba Festival

Farmer households slaughter pigs on December 8th

of the Lunar Calendar and to

thank the protection and bless of Meishan gods by redeeming a vow to a god with pig

heads. This ceremony is also performed to pray for bumper harvest and thriving of

domestic animals in the coming year. When the ritual is completed, a huge pot of

“pork blood soup” shall be prepared, and friends shall be invited to share this

delicious meal. Meanwhile, cooked blood of the pig shall be distributed to neighbors.

1.4.3 Traditional Folk Arts

(1) Grass Dragon Dance


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Dragon made of vanilla is closely related to the rice terraced culture in the

Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces (Figure 25). Local people take this kind of grass dragon as

the incarnation of god of the five cereals, and the Mother Goddess, who are protecting

the prosperous harvests, household security, and prosperity in the Xinhua Ziquejie

Terraces. Whenever serious pests or drought occur, people go to the fields to dance

with grass dragon to pray for controlling the pests or resisting the drought. During the

Spring Festival, grass dragon dance come into each household to pray for gods’

blessing for the safety and prosperity of their families.

In addition to the dragon head and dragon tail, grass dragon normally has 7 to 9

arches in the middle. The dragon bone is made of bamboo and is tightly fastened to a

wooden stick about 2 meters in length. Three thick braids made of woven straw are

used to put together the dragon head, arches and dragon tail. A linking distance of 5-7

chi per arch is maintained (about 3 chi =1 meter). The distance between dragon head

and the first arch is 7chi, and the distance between the following arches

is successively shortened and the distance between the final two arches is about 5 chi.

Before the grass dragon dance, rituals to invite the gods are performed. Gods of

“three-qing”, “two emperors”, Queen Mother, King of local temple and land god of

local region are normally invited. When the inviting rituals are completed, grass

dragon dance come into each household. After dance in each household, the host shall

send a red envelope, glutinous rice cake, and other gifts to the dragon dancers, and

then set off the firecrackers to send the dragon off. When closing the grass dragon

dance, the dragon tail exit first, followed by the turning around of dragon head to head

for the next household. After the grass dragon dance is conducted in each household,

complex closing ceremony is held by a Buddhist or Taoist priest to claim the

completion of the grass dragon dance ceremony.


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Figure 25. Grass Dragon Dance

(2) Meishan Martial Arts

Meishan martial art is already listed as State-level Intangible Cultural Heritage of

China, which fully reflects the folk life and cultural traditions of the Meishan region.

Meishan martial art was formed in the harsh natural environment and social

environment of frequent fighting. Historically, the ancestors of Meishan area

gradually formed a simple and practical martial art school in the daily life and

production process which featured defense-based and capable of both attack and

defense. Among them, the martial art in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces has the unique

styles. First, in terms of the instrument used, there are pitchforks, iron rakes and iron

rulers used in hunting as well as wooden benches, square table sticks, long chimney,

umbrellas, and other things for daily use. Secondly, many of the martial art techniques

and actions have evolved from the daily farming and hunting labor and other

production processes (Figure 26).

Figure 26. Meishan Martial Art


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(3) Xinhua Folk Songs

Xinhua folk songs are also listed as State-level Intangible Cultural Heritage of

China and widely distributed. Folk songs in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces has the

features of high tunes, loud and clear singing, which is These unique folk songs that

can only be found in Xinhua County (Figure 27). The formation of Xinhua folk songs

is closely related to the historical natural ecological environment and the production

conditions in this region. In ancient time, the reclamation of terraced fields was

generally conducted at areas far from the villages. Therefore, when people went to

work in the terraced fields, particularly those close to the forest edges and untraversed

regions, they might encounter wild beasts and other animals, which would bring

extreme danger to them. Therefore, people might beat the gongs or chant or sing the

folk songs to scare away the animals in lurk; at the same time, singing folk songs can

effectively relieve fatigue during the labor and make the farmers relax. Xinhua Folk

songs have a close relationship with the daily life. A lot of folk songs in the Xinhua

Ziquejie Terraces describes the daily production and labor scenes, such as the “rice

planting song” that boasts the production process in terraced paddy fields, and the

“Brother is hunting birds in the mountains” that depicts the hunting process.

Figure 27. Xinhua Folk Songs

1.4.4 Traditional Villages Featured by Plank Houses

Houses in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces have experienced a development process

from rock shelters to plank houses, and then to stone houses. The primitive rock

shelter was built in accordance to the rock and used trees as the walls, which actually


37

was a “semi-underground” type of residential building. The plank house was evolved

from the rock shelter. Ancient residents usually selected to excavate the soil cave in a

cliff wall and put wood and bark around the cave as fence. Later, with the

development of production practice, people started to replace the primitive grotto or

soil cave with laid stones or piled bricks. With wooden roof lying on top of the

erecting walls, the stone house was built.

People in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces pay special attention to the construction

of their houses. Before the selection of the house location, a geomancer shall be

invited to check out the geomancy (Feng Shui) of the house, mainly to see whether

the construction site would match the birth date of the owner. When the construction

site is determined, a good timing to start construction would be selected too. After the

house foundation is built, a cock is killed when the frame of main gate is erected, and

a piece of red cloth written with “North Star will always shine” shall be hanged on it.

Firecrackers shall be set out when the cross beam of the house is erected, and the host

shall offer a feast for the entire construction worker to “satisfy their appetite”.

Existing traditional villages well reserved in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces are Louxia

Village and Zhenglong Village.

Louxia Village is located at the north of the Shuiche Town, with a long history

that can be traced back to Jianglong period of Song Taizu (960-963 AD). It is listed as

one of the provincial historical and cultural villages in Hunan province. Most

traditional folk houses in this village are plank houses with wood as the raw material

and two-story column-and-tie construction as the main external construction style.

Old House Courtyard, Moon-shaped Curtyard, Five-room Courtyard, Xianghua

Courtyard, and some other ancient buildings are very well reserved in Louxia Village.

The whole village was built up to the mountains with two opposite peaks in front the

village. Houses in the village are located in turn along the hillsides until half way up

the mountain, ascending like stairs up the hill but well-proportioned, reflecting the

principle of “imitation of nature to achieve harmonious between man and earth”

proposed by ancient ancestors when they created these settlements. From the


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perspective of evolution and development history of the village, Sixiang Study Room

and Cangxi Temple are the oldest buildings reserved in Louxia Village, which were

also the core areas of the village for its development and aggregation. In terms of

inhabitant constitution, most of the inhabitants in Louxia Village are the descendants

of families surnamed Luo, with typical characteristics of clan kinship. Meanwhile,

tribes with surnamed Luo also attach great importance to the education and culture for

the future generations so as to pass on knowledge, and maintain a typical

farming-education culture.

Zhenglong Village, located at the northeast of Shuiche Town, is now listed as one

of the traditional villages of China. A large number of ganlan-style wooden houses

were reserved in Zhenglong Village. Most of them were built in years between the late

Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, and had a history for almost one

hundred years. Houses were built along the mountain, with two stories and exterior

wood walls. Gable walls on both sides were made of bamboo and painted in white,

and the roof was covered with small black and green tiles (Figure 28). From a

distance, it seems that the entire wooden buildings in the village are concentrated and

densely arranged, but with a close look you would find that each independent building

has a small courtyard that provides enough space for drying crops and planting

vegetables, fruits, or even feng shui trees. Individual houses are connected by stone

roads leading to every corner of the village.

Figure 28. Traditional Folk Houses


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1.4.5 Unique Hot and Sour Food Culture

With the relative high altitude, abundant rainfall, and cloudy weather throughout

the year in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces, it is difficult to preserve fresh food for a long

time because of the relative high air humidity. This feature of the natural environment

had profound impacts on the production and daily life for local people. They need to

prevent rheumatic diseases in everyday life. In practice, it is increasingly recognized

that people can effectively prevent rheumatic diseases by reasonable diet consisting of

pickled cabbage, pepper, and wild pepper. As a result, t a hot and sour diet was formed,

taking “dispelling dehumidification and sweating to decrease internal heat” as the

main characteristics. Meanwhile, preservation methods such as salted or smoked after

salted are used to preserve food, such as thick chili sauce, chopped hot pepper, white

pepper, salted vegetables, firewood smoked meats, smoked duck and fire roasted fish.

In addition, local snacks are mainly made of special products of the Ziquejie terraces,

such as sticky rice, finger millet, buckwheat, fern root and other unique products. At

the same time, for the convenience of carrying and eating, most snacks are made into

the typical form of stuffed bun which is commonly seen in southern areas, including

leafy stuffed bun, finger millet stuffed bun, Glutinous Rice Starch stuffed bun, raw

rice bun, navel shape stuffed bun and etc. Tea, rice wine and cold drinks are used to

form the beverage with local characteristics. There are Gong tea, mashed tea and

barley tea. The main type of rice wine is the brewed sticky rice wine specialty made in

the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces. The cold drinks refer to the unique drink made of the

fruits of Liangshu Tree-the endemic vines in this region. The overall characteristic of

traditional food culture in the Ziquejie terraces is formed based on the local products

and also adapted to the characteristics of local natural environment. For example, the

typical “ten courses of meat, ten courses of vegetables and ten kinds of drinks”. The

“ten courses of meat” include Sanhe soup, snow balls, pounded duck, rice flour meat,

vinegar and sour fish soup, mud fish with tofu, duck bun, steamed duck with chestnut,

pig’s blood bun. The “ten courses of vegetables” include glutinous rice cake, raw rice

bun, rice cupcake, Ma Lianhuang, coarse cake, glutinous rice starch, fern root cake,


40

fried rice and peanut bun, rice powder with pepper, navel shape bun. The “ten kinds of

drinks” include fermented glutinous rice wine, sweetened distilled grain wine, sweet

wine, rice liquor, cellar wine, barley wine, cold drinks, mashed bean and Gynostemma

pentaphyllum

Table 7. Traditional Food Culture in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces

Category Illustration Examples

Smoked

products

To conduct salted and smoked preservation

methods on home-raised livestock, poultry and

fish to ensure easy preservation

firewood smoked meats, smoked

duck, fire roasted fish

Salted

products

Salted vegetables, supplemented by ginger, salt

black bean and other condiments

Eggplant peel, white pepper,

chopped hot pepper, thick chili

sauce, radish salted with thick

chili sauce, salted vegetables

Style of

cooking

A cooking style combined local properties and

went through long-term development and

evolution that has become one of the important

cooking schools of Hunan province with a sour

and spicy characteristics and the function to

eradicate cold and dehumidification

Sanhe soup, snow balls, pounded

duck, rice flour meat, vinegar

and sour fish soup, fish gel, mud

fish with tofu, duck bun, steamed

duck with chestnut

Snacks

made of special products of the terraced region,

such as purple rice, sticky rice, finger millet,

buckwheat and other unique products, has the

character of being convenient for carrying and

eating

glutinous rice cake, raw rice bun,

rice cupcake, pig’s blood bun,

Ma Lianhuang, coarse

cake, glutinous rice starch, fern

root cake, fried rice and peanut

bun, rice powder with pepper

Beverag

es

Made of tea, soil bean, barley and Liangshu vein

specially produced in this region, has the functions

of quench the thirst and satisfy the hunger

Meishan Gong tea, Gynostemma

pentaphyllum tea, moon-shape

tea, cloud and mist tea, mashed

tea (three kinds of beans and

three kinds of rice), barley tea

and cold drink

Liquor

drinks

Made of carefully selected sticky rice of high

quality produced in local area as raw material

through the processes of soaked, steamed, jar

closure and other elaborate traditional crafts

fermented glutinous rice wine,

sweetened distilled grain wine,

sweet wine, rice liquor, cellar

wine, barley wine


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Frozen Fish of Shuiche Town

Sanhe Soup

Snow Balls Coarse Bun with Steamed Chicken

Figure 30. Traditional Food Culture

1.4.6 Mutual Cooperative Labour Relations

Individual unit area of the Ziquejie terraces is relatively small. Cultivation is

mainly cultivated by manpower and a kind of traditional labor-intensive agricultural

production. Therefore, a working partnership featured with mutual assistance and

cooperation between local farmers is formed. To be specific, in the busy season, it is

difficult for labor force in one household to complete the big amount of farming work

in terraced fields in time. , Therefore, local farmers cooperate and help each other by

the way of “exchange labor”, “labor repay”, “labor switch”, “casual labor”, “labor

assistance” and others. As a typical mutual cooperation model between labors, this

labor relationship not only solves the temporary labor shortage problem during

agricultural production, but also helps to achieve a harmonious coexistence between

neighbors. Thus, this labor relationship has a positive reference for the

communication and association within the neighborhood and the community now and

in the future.


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1.4.7 Local Rules and Regulations

From generation to generation, Local Farmers in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces

are consciously abide by some of the village rules and regulations related to water

distribution management and water engineering maintenance in terraced fields. For

example, water resource at higher places shall be used for irrigation of terraced fields

with higher altitude while water resource at lower places shall be used for irrigation of

terraced fields with lower altitude (Figure 31). As a rule, water from a higher level of

channel is used to irrigate terraced fields in higher places. The number and location of

terraced fields to be irrigated by each channel is regulated beforehand. With simple

control and regulation facilities, like water distribution recorded by carved wood or

rock (Figure 32), effective water management can be realized. Water shortage might

occur at the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces some time, but disputes between farmers never

occur.

Figure 31.Water Distribution in Terraced Fields

Figure 32.Water Distribution Recorded by Carved Rock


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1.5 Remarkable Landscapes, Land and Water Resources

Management Features

1.5.1 Composite Landscape

Based on its topography, geomorphology, ecological environment and traditional

buildings, a composite landscape that integrated terraced fields, meteorological

scenery, folk houses and forests is formed the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces. There are

more than 500 levels of terraced fields in the Ziquejie terraces. Most of them are

located at an altitude of 500-1000 meters with the highest elevation of 1200 meters

and the lowest elevation of 450 meters. Slope of the terraces is between 25º-40º, with

the deepest slope of 50º. Traditional ganlan-style folk houses and geomantic forests

are interspersed between layers of terraced fields and provide a harmonious landscape

of the four elements, namely the terraced fields, vegetation, folk houses, and rivers

(Figure 33).

Figure 33.Vertical Landscape of the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces

The total core area of Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces is about 80,000 ha, of which the

concentrated pieces are more than 20,000 ha. The largest single piece of terraced field

is less than 1 mu while the smallest can only be inserted with dozens of seedlings. The

five representative concentrated terraced fields are Longpu, Shifeng, Changshi,

Baishui and Jinlong, while different landscape features are shown in different fields.


44

For example, the Yajizha terraces within Changshi stretches along the hillside for a

long distance and is of grand scale (Figure 34); the Baguachong terraces in Shifeng

wanders through the valleys and shows a magnificent varied scenery with the Eight

Diagrams pattern in it (Figure 35); Laozhuang terraces in Jinlong is gently

surrounding hills near the village and forms a unique landscape showing the harmony

between natural and human by integrating the simple structured folk houses and the

terraced fields with lively lines (Figure 36).

Figure 34. Yajizhai Terraces

Figure 35. Baguachong Terraces


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Figure 36. Laozhuang Terraces

With weather changes, coupled with dynamic changes of farming season, the

landscape in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces is distinctive in different seasons. In spring,

it is filled with abundant water, which looks like mirrors. In summer, it is filled with

young and green rice seedlings. In autumn, it is filled with golden rice which is ready

for harvest. In winter, it is covered by heavy white snow.

Figure 37. Landscape of the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces in Four Seasons

1.5.2 Landscape of Farmlands

Land use of the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces is mainly dominated by forest land and

cultivated land. Forest land in core area of the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces is about

30,510 ha, accounting for 68.3% of the total area, while cultivated land in core area of


46

the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces is about 7,564 ha, accounting for 16.94% of the total

area, of which 80.5 percent of the arable land are paddy fields and terraced paddy

fields accounted for 87.6%. Rice cultivation in terraced paddy fields is the dominant

cropping patterns in this region. Local farmers put fish or ducks into the terraced rice

paddy fields (Figure 38 and 39) to improve economic efficiency and increase the

diversity of food as well as to improve the ecological environment of farmland.

Meanwhile, farmers also plant a variety of crops, vegetables fruits, herbs, etc., in dry

lands to provide different agricultural products, which enrich the landscape of local

farmland (Figure 40).

Figure 38. Rice-Fish farming in Terraced Paddy Fields

Figure 39. Rice-duck farming in Terraced Paddy Fields


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Figure 40. Landscape of Farmlands

1.5.3 Landscape of Soil and Water Management

The natural gravity irrigation system of the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces (Figure 41),

together with traditional cultivation methods, water conservation and retention, forest

protection, water management, and the other village rules and regulations, has formed

a highly effective soil and water management system to realize the gravity irrigation

and soil conservation in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces.

Figure 41. Natural Gravity Irrigation System

In addition, in order to protect the water conservation function of the terraced

paddy fields, enough water is kept in the terraced paddy fields even in winter to

prevent the soil of the ridges from mud crack that might in turn damage the water

conservation and retention. This practice has formed a unique landscape in winter

(Figure 42).


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Figure 42. Water Conservation in Winter

1.5.4 Village Cultural Landscape

Formation of villages in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces is closely related to the

formation and evolution of terraced fields. Scattered folk houses make it convenient

for local farmers to work in the nearby fields and use water, reflecting the settlement

principle that “the best settlement place should be near by the mountains and rivers,

and also adapt to local conditions”. Plank folk houses with simple structure and the

terraced fields with majestic landscape are silhouetted against each other while

squared and painted white window panes and the pastoral scenery perfectly

complement each other (Figure 43).

Figure 43. Folk Houses in Changshi Village


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2. Historic Relevance

2.1 The Origin and Evolution History of the Xinhua Ziquejie

Terraces

The Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces has a long history, but since the ancestor who lived

in this region has no direct written record of its history, the historical research of this

region is mainly based on the research of relevant literatures, surname genealogy

records and genealogy records. In 1998, three grinded stone spears were excavated

from Longxi Village of Wentian Town in Xinhua County, which were identified by the

experts as weapons of the late Neolithic Age. A paper by a Gong Sheng (senior

licentiate by imperial favor) named Chen Changbing was recorded in the Xinhua

County Annals in Dao Guang period of the Qing Dynasty (1782-1850). It recorded

that "a person surnamed Feng hided in this region to take refuge from the wars in the

Qin Dynasty. He lived beneath the rocks and took grass, fruits and vegetables from

the nature to survive. But later he disappeared and never was heard of. Local people

built the Tianyun temple to worship him”. This record serves as the evidence that the

Ziquejie region was already populated by human in the Qin Dynasty. The fifth year of

King Hangao (202 BC), Wu Rui was assigned by the emperor as the King of

Changsha while Mei Juan followed him and resided in Meilin (plum forest), which

gave this region the name of “Mei Shan”.

In Tang and Song Dynasties, the imperial government encouraged cultivation on

“highlands”. The so-called highlands or mountain lands were fields cultivated along

the hills and formed level differences in heights, commonly known as ‘terraced fields’.

The terraced fields had been very popular in Hunan in the Song Dynasty. According to

the Xinhua Records of Geographical Names, Louxia Village in Shuiche Town is

inhabited by a tribe surnamed Luo and the first member of this tribe to migrant to this

region was named Luo Yanyi. The migration was conducted in the years of

Taipingxingguo in the Northern Song Dynasty (976-983). The village name of Louxia

was given by the terraced fields on the slopes behind the village which looked similar


50

to stairs. It is clear that as early as the Northern Song Dynasty, terraced fields in

Ziquejie region begun to take shape. In Xining period of the Song dynasty, Zhang

Chun was sent to Meishan by the imperial government to “recruit Meishan”. Since

then, Xinhua County was established to manage Meishan, which signals the

allegiance to the government of ethnic groups in Meishan. In 1072, Zhang Chun wrote

a poem entitled “Cultivation of Meishan”, which says that “continuous houses are

mainly plank houses while the terraced lands are most barren when the people mainly

rely on slash-and-burn farming method”, which served as the recorded authentic

description of the development of terraced fields in Xinhua County by Miao, Yao and

other ethnic groups at that time.

The scale of terraced fields enlarged gradually during the Ming and Qing

Dynasties. With the development of terraced fields in the Ziquejie region, many

public facilities providing direct service for the agricultural production had been built

up. Take the tea-booth along the Xixihe River as an example; more than ten

tea-booths were built successively in Ming and Qing Dynasties, including Danru

Pavilion, Jiqing Ting Pavilion, Zerun Pavilion and a dozen of other Pavilions.

2.2 Integrated Culture Promote the Sustainable Development

of Terraced Fields

The formation and development of the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces is the

integration and common development process of ethnic groups like Miao, Yao, Dong,

Han and other ethnic groups. Through exchange and integration of production

technology, lifestyle, culture, religion and other aspects, people from different ethnic

groups have realized the in-depth exchanges on the terraced field farming culture, so

as to achieve the sustainable development of terraced cultivation and farming. In

return, culture integration of ethnic groups has brought momentum for the further

development and evolution of production system of the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces.

According to some research results, ethnic groups living in the Xinhua Ziquejie

Terraces region are descendants of Jiu Li and San Miao. According to legend, Shan

Juan, the descendant of Chi You and tribe chief of San Miao, took refuge at Wuling


51

(now Xupu County) to avoid the suppression of Emperor Shun. He was buried at

Chahe Mountain (back-land of ancient Meishan, lies along the Zijiang River, which

came to be considered as quite a part of Changsha Man or Wuling Man). Ancestors of

inhabitants in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces region were also considered as the

descendants of Panhu, the first ancestor of Miao and Yao ethnic groups, which is

documented in the Record of Large-scale Troop Rallying of First Emperor in the

Golden Throne written by folk master of Meishan. Historically, the Yao, Miao, She,

Tujia and other ethnic groups are collectively referred to as “Mo Yao”. Three ancient

sites of “rock shelter” inhabited by people of Yao ethnic group still remain in Longpu

Village. Ancestors of inhabitants in Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces region were also

considered as the descendants of Yue ethnic group in ancient times. Since ancient

times, Hunan Province is the settlement place for Baiyue, therefore, the Meishan

culture is characteristic of Yue ethnic group culture. During the transition from Sui

Dynasty to Tang Dynasty, another ethnic group named Baihuyi with the dominated

surname of Fu moved into Meishan region, which later considered as the ancestors of

people from Tujia ethnic group.

Currently, Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces region is dominated by Han Nationality.

Historically, some clansmen of Miao and Yao were dead in wars, some of them moved

to other regions, while some of them integrated with the Han people. Especially after

the Song Dynasty when the imperial government adopted the policy that “cattle and

seeds would be given to anyone who choose to register in this region”. People would

be provided with paddy fields and dry lands after they completed household

registration. Meanwhile, people of ethnic groups who were outstanding would also be

given the opportunity to take official positions. With all these measures, many ethnic

people in Meishan region were gradually assimilated.

Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces region supported the surviving and procreating of

many ethnic groups in this region especially since the Song Dynasty when the

imperial government completed the cultivation of Meishan region. The war continued

year after year in other areas, while the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces “enjoyed peace


52

when the whole country was in war and enjoyed harvest when the whole country was

suffering from severe droughts”. To some extent, it vividly described the important

role of the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces that played in the social and economic

development. To the Qing Dynasty, rice produced in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces was

sold to other places, in which the Tribute Rice from Huangjiling Mountain gained its

widespread fame, which made Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces the production base of rice.

2.3 Incorporation of Rice Cultivation with Fishing and Hunting

Promote Sustainable Economic Development

The Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces represent the unique traditional agricultural

production pattern in southern China by incorporating rice cultivation in terraced

fields and fishing and hunting in mountainous regions. This pattern provides main

products and materials necessary for daily life of local farmer in the Xinhua Ziquejie

Terraces, which is also the most unique economic mode of production in this region

for thousands of years. The long and prosperous cultivation history of the Xinhua

Ziquejie Terraces has eloquently proved that the incorporation of rice cultivation in

terraced fields and fishing and hunting in mountainous regions is the fundamental

reason behind the sustainable and continuous development of the Xinhua Ziquejie

Terraces in the socio-economic development process.

Historically, many poets lively and vividly documented the unique mode of

production in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces through their rich literature works. For

example, “white towel on the heads and complex knots in the clothes; wild flowers

and fruits can be seen everywhere while the green leaves falling on the shoulder”

written by Zhang Chun; “clothing is made of colorful fiber; speech far different from

the standard; slash-and-burn cultivation is adopted, and fruits are picked from the

mountains where hunting is conducted ” written by Wu Zhiyao; and “why would the

fields cultivated millet and grain through fire field farming method would be used to

cultivate mulberry and fiber” written by Wu Juhou and so on. In terms of local

topography, seventy percent of the Meishan region is mountainous areas while twenty

percent are cultivated lands and the rest ten percent are water system. Dong people


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and hunters scattered in the mountainous areas together with the common people

living in the cultivated lands formed a social structure of fishing and hunting

coexisting with farming. There was the existence of two different types of agricultural

production, one was the rice cultivation in paddy fields, the other one was the farming

of upland crops in slash and burn lands. Until now, the historical fishing and hunting

culture in mountainous regions can be still traced from lifestyle of local farmers in the

Ziquejie terraces, such as the worship for Zhang Wulang, who was not only the

founder that cultivated the mountains and pioneered the farming in lands, but also a

master in hunting and fishing.

2.4 Historical Model of Harmonious and Sustainable

Development of Human and Land

Historical and cultural tradition in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces has a distinctive

characteristic, emphasizing that the production activities of local farmers must highly

consist with the natural environment, such as production modes, folk house

construction, and site selection of villages, cultural beliefs and even the behavior of

people’s daily life. This reflects the traditional concept of the environmental

protection proposed in ancient Chinese culture, which emphasized that people must

“conform to the nature, conform to the historical trend to avoid harm, man-nature

harmonization and change waste materials into things of value”. This philosophy that

contains a profound sense of ecological ethics and rich agricultural wisdom is the

cultural motivation to ensure the man-nature harmonization in the Xinhua Ziquejie

Terraces.

In the long history of reclamation and cultivation activities, ancestors of the

Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces had to overcome the harsh natural conditions of steep terrain.

It is worth noting that, unlike terraces in other parts of the world, the slope of most

terraced fields cultivated in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces exceeds the publicly

recognized critical value of 25°. This special natural condition forced people to be

more cautious about the possible adverse consequences of their production and life

behaviors on the environment and thus to attach more emphasis on the protection of


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the environment. In addition, the history of this region is filled with the outbreaks of

long and large-scale military conflicts between the central government and the Miao,

Yao and other ethnic groups, which forced the production of the Xinhua Ziquejie

Terraces to be prioritized in the production and supply of necessary military materials

for a large number of troops. All these reasons have made the ancestors in Ziquejie

region to improve farming methods, improve water conservation and fertilizer

retention, strengthen the ecological benefits of rice cultivation to ensure the

sustainable support ability of the production systems of the terraced fields, such as

water-logged compost - ridge repairing - seedlings transplantation - water

conservation and management - harvesting, the pest control technology combined

with natural ecological conditions.

In summary, it is easy for us to find that the traditional culture of the Ziquejie

Terraces are still showing its unique and incomparable charm of ecological

civilization to the people around the world, which also makes it the lively case for

other countries in the world to actively develop ecological agriculture.


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3. Contemporary Relevance

3.1 Important Guarantee to Maintain Sustainable

Development of Agriculture

The evolution and development of the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces is the best

example to demonstrate how to respect nature, conform to nature, protect nature and

rationally use natural resources. It is not only in line with the “ecological agriculture”,

“circular agriculture” and “low carbon agriculture” advocated by the government, but

also helps to realize the grand goal for the construction of ecological civilization and

beautiful China proposed by the 18th CPC National Congress. Protection of the

Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces can promote the conservation of local agricultural

biodiversity, livelihood security, excavation of traditional agricultural values, and

development of modern ecological agriculture, which will not only generate

significant ecological and social benefits, but also generate significant economic

benefits. It is of great significance for the construction of rural ecological civilization,

improvement of the ecological environment in rural areas, sustainable development of

economy and society in rural areas, and the construction of beautiful countryside.

3.2 Important Foundation to Maintain Regional Ecological

Balance

The ecosystem of the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces has many ecological services,

such as maintenance of livelihood security, biodiversity conservation, water

conservation, soil retention, climate regulation, eco-environment improvement of

farmland, and others. This ecosystem has high degree ecosystem stability. Farmers of

the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces help to ensure food safety and maintain the rich

biodiversity, since they insist on the traditional farming techniques with low

dependence on pesticides and fertilizers. Local farmers also play an important role in

maintaining the regional ecological balance by using traditional farming knowledge

and technology, closing hillsides off to facilitate afforestation to improve forest

vegetation coverage, intercropping moso, kiwi and other crops in the forest, as well as


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other traditional dry land cropping methods to improve the agriculture ecosystem

functions.

3.3 Typical Model for Utilizing the Multi-functionality of

Agriculture

Local farmers take advantage of the traditional farming knowledge and

technology and the excellent ecological environment to develop high-quality

agricultural production, to carry out deep processing of agricultural products and

brand building in order to increase the added value for agricultural products. Currently,

eight agricultural enterprises have been established in the core area of the Xinhua

Ziquejie Terraces. Some of their agricultural products have received the certification

of organic, green product, or geographical indications. The “black tribute rice” brand

has been created. The demonstration base of “black rice”, “red rice” and rice-fish

farming have been set up. There is also the national ecological demonstration base of

organic rice cultivation. Unique landscape system, rich tourism resources and unique

regional culture of the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces provide favorable conditions for the

development of recreational agriculture in this region. The Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces

was approved as National Scenic Spot in December 2005, National AAAA Tourist

Attraction in December 2012, and World Heritage Irrigation Structure in 2014. All

these made the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces a place with a high scientific value and

nature tourism value.

3.4 Important Approach to Improve the Livelihoods for Local

Farmers

With the development of sightseeing-tourism agriculture in the Xinhua Ziquejie

Terraces, local farmers have engaged in processing of local agricultural products.

They set up shades or stalls to sell their locally produced agricultural products, such as

black rice, red rice, and firewood smoked meats, finger millet, fish from the paddy

fields, duck etc., which increase their income. With the development of tourism in the

Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces, some of the migrant workers have decided to return home


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and started a business. For example, 18 people have already returned to Longpu

Village to learn rice cultivation, rice-fish farming, rice-duck farming, and other

traditional techniques. This helps to pass on the traditional farming knowledge and

technology.


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4. Threats and Challenges

4.1 Threats

4.1.1 Relative Low Comparative Benefits of Agricultural Production

The sustainable development of terraced fields in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces is

restricted by the problems of part-time farming and aging of agricultural labors, low

productivity, and high labor intensity. Limited space and narrow ridge of the terraced

fields hindered the operation of agricultural machinery in the fields. As a result, the

cultivation, fertilization, plantation and harvest of crops can only be completed by

manpower. The production conditions still remain at the level of that in remote

ancient times. According to estimates, production cost and the cost of wages in the

rice cultivation in terraced fields have already exceeded the market value of rice

products. In recent years, many challenges and problems have occurred in agriculture.

For example, the price increase of agricultural materials causes the decrease of the

agricultural comparative benefits; economic fluctuations led to increased uncertainty

in the growth of farmers’ income; property income of farmers remained at a low level,

the increased difficulty to promote farmers’ income growth, and the widened

urban-rural income gap have not been fundamentally alleviated.

4.1.2 Increased Vulnerability of Ecosystem Caused by Extreme Weather

The extreme drought events in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces have been increased

dramatically in recent years. For example, from July 1 to August 15, 2013,

controlled by the strong subtropical high pressure, Xinhua County experienced

continuous hot weather with an average temperature of 31.6℃, which was the highest

in history. The number of consecutive days with daily maximum temperature ≥35.0℃

was up to 36 days, which was a high record. During August 10-13, daily maximum

temperature was more than 40℃ continuously with the highest temperature up to

40.8℃, breaking the historical high record. According to the field survey, 3 ha of

terraced fields in Longpu Village became dry land due to the lack of water; other

villages also experienced a small amount of terraced fields turning into dry lands due

to the lack of water too. If we do not put more efforts for protecting the Xinhua


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Ziquejie Terraces under the threats of global climate change, many functions of this

system will face increased challenges.

4.1.3 Underdeveloped Infrastructure of Terraced Fields

In recent years, with the increase of human activities, construction of roads and

infrastructures, and many other reasons, irrigation channels in the Xinhua Ziquejie

Terraces formed in the past have been hindered with blockages over time. Some

functions of the irrigation system have been lost due to the lack of management over a

long period of time. Severe leakages occurred in river dams and channels. Since the

water conservancy facilities in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces are in ancient condition,

in which the dams were built of rocks and relied on firewood, grass and mud to

prevent leakage, the drainage channels were made of soil with leakage all over the

place. All these deficiencies resulted in relatively low utilization efficiency of water

irrigation. Due to lack of special maintenance funds, these issues have not been

properly resolved yet.

4.1.4 Tourism Facilities and Reception Conditions Need to be Improved

The tourism development of the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces was started relatively

late, therefore the constructions of tourism facilities, construction land for tourism

development, and other supporting facilities still need to be further improved.

Transportation in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces mainly relies on road transportation of

State Road 207, Highway S312, S225, S217 and railway transportation lines of

Jiaozuo-Liuzhou, Hunan-Guizhou and Luoyang-Zhanjiang railway lines. Currently,

most visitors to the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces are the tourists from Loudi, Shaoyang,

and Yiyang in relatively close distance. Most of them come here for short distance trip

or self-drive tourists. With the opening of Loudi-Huaihua Highway and

Shanghai-Kunming high-speed rail in 2014, transportation to the Xinhua Ziquejie

Terraces is more convenient than ever before. However, road conditions of most roads

are still very poor and need to be further improved. Since transportation in the Xinhua

Ziquejie Terraces is within the complicated terrain, the sight-seeing spots are far away

from each other, together with the environmental vulnerability of the Xinhua Ziquejie


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Terraces and the underdeveloped transport planning within the scenic areas, the

transportation is still a big problem for the tourism development in the Xinhua

Ziquejie Terraces. In addition, the reception capacity in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces

is limited and the services still need to be improved.

4.2 Challenges

4.2.1 Traditional Agriculture Suffers from the Impacts of Modern

Agriculture

Nowadays, the traditional animal-based intensive farming system in the Xinhua

Ziquejie Terraces has changed dramatically. Lacking of policy guidance, local farmers

are inclined to cultivate hybrid rice with higher yield and relatively simple daily

management, and also use chemical fertilizer and pesticides in the fields to ensure

their livelihoods and the short-term economic benefits. At present, except for a few

households that are members of the organic black rice production base, more than 80%

of the local farmers choose to grow hybrid rice, causing the decrease in plantation of

traditional rice varieties with local characteristics. The area of terraced fields with

animal-based cultivation is also significantly reduced. According to the field survey,

the number of cattle raised by the 183 households of Longpu Village in 2004 was 185.

However it had decreased to only 20 in 210 households in 2014. If guidance is not

put in place as soon as possible, under the impacts of modern agriculture, agriculture

in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces will be not only in the danger of losing the advanced

concepts and agricultural wisdom inherent in the system, but also put its agricultural

and cultural diversity under threats. Meanwhile, the inheritance of the traditional

agriculture based on human-land harmony and intensive farming will also be

challenged

4.2.2 Importance of Agricultural Production Weakened by Urbanization

Due to relatively low comparative benefits from farming in the terraced fields, a

large number of rural laborers went out as migrant workers and no longer took

agricultural production as their only source of income. At the same time, low-income

and high intensity of agricultural production greatly reduced the attachment of new


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generation of farmers to their farmlands. Terraced fields being left uncultivated has

become one of the most outstanding social problems in current rural regions.

According to the field survey, more than 70% of young rural residents in the Xinhua

Ziquejie Terraces went out and became migrant workers and their

non-farming income had accounted for 78% of the total household income. In practice,

because of the loss of young labors, only the elderly, women and children were left

behind to take on agricultural production, and it is difficult for them to protect the

terraced fields effectively even they have strong willingness to do so. This will result

in the gradual loss of the traditional farming techniques, the intensive farming

methods, the traditional village rules and regulations, and the traditional folk customs.

The sustainable development of the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces will be greatly

threatened. The inheritance of the traditional agriculture will also face great

challenges.

4.2.3 Traditional Culture Influenced by the Development of Modernization

The modernization development has gradually changed the lifestyle and

organization mode of local farmers in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces and resulted in the

negative impacts on the inheritance of traditional folk customs and culture. First of all,

the young generation of farmers has low sense of identity towards traditional

agriculture and lack of interests in the knowledge and technology of traditional

agriculture. A status quo survey has been conducted to investigate the villagers living

in the core areas of the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces about the “familiar or master” degree

of the agricultural heritage knowledge. The participants were separated into three

groups, including the young group with the age of under 40, the middle aged group

with the age between 40 and 60, and the elderly group with the age of over 60. The

result shows that whether in terms of the recognition degree of the features and

elements of cultural heritage in terraced fields, or in terms of the degree of their

inheritance, the level of the young group was significantly lower. For the elderly

group, 100% of them thought that farming system, village regulations and folk

customs were the agricultural heritage elements that need to be inherited, while the


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recognition rate among young people was only 33%; in particular, the recognition rate

among part-time farmers, who were frequently working outside and college students

that return hometown, was only 25%. In all kinds of folk customs, young people

under the age 40 had relatively high inheritance rate towards food culture and heritage

of the martial arts, with a rate about 70%. However, in terms of local folk songs,

except for those young people who work in scenic spots and have been trained, most

young people could not sing any folk songs revealing the endangered situation of

local folk songs. Secondly, the accelerated tourism development of the Ziquejie

terraces, and the increased contact and exposure to the outside world, foreign culture,

especially the commercial culture, have great and growing impacts on local culture.

To cater the taste of tourists or to satisfy the excessive pursuit of economic benefits,

shoddy cultural products are made for sale. As a result some of the traditional culture

techniques cannot be inherited in their first-class level. In the past, traditional folk

activities and celebrations had to be held at specific time and in specific place and

they would be celebrated in the traditional ways with traditional contents. However,

nowadays, to meet the needs of tourists, traditional folk activities and celebrations had

become the fast-food style culture, and failed to demonstrate and unleash its core

values. Currently, not many ancient customs and folklore with distinctive

characteristics of the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces remain. In addition, some new

residential construction no longer inherits the style of traditional houses.

4.2.4 Ecosystems Affected by Many Factors

Tourism in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces has been developed rapidly and the

visitors increased rapidly. Since it was open to the outside world in 2008, the Xinhua

Ziquejie Terraces have been overcrowded with tourists, with the maximum of 50,000

tourists per day in tourism seasons. The new forms of tourism, such as the agritourism,

bring serious pollution and destruction. The waste water and garbage produced by

slaughtering pigs, sheep, chickens, dogs and other animals and poultry for food

consumption were increased greatly. Some tourists recklessly tread on grass and pick

up branch of trees, destructing the vegetation to some degree. Some tourists misplace


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garbage, or indiscriminately defecate on lands. In addition, disorder of residential

scaffolding and squattering aggravates the state of environment. All the above factors

also deteriorate the ecological environment quality of farmland at the same time. With

the departure of rural labor force, modern agricultural technology with high yield and

labor saving effects gradually replaces the traditional agricultural technology, leading

to the increased usage of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in terraced fields.

Reduced human and animal power, thinner plough layer of terraced fields, increased

soil bulk density and weakened water conservation ability of soil resulted in the

deterioration of environmental quality of farmlands.


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5. Practical Considerations

5.1 Ongoing Efforts to Promote the GIAHS

In recent years, a series of measures have been taken by the Xinhua County to

protect the Ziquejie terraces:

(1) Construct Protection Mechanism to Strengthen Project Management

The government of Xinhua County pays more attention to the protection and

development of the Ziquejie terraces by taking it as a major strategic and key area to

promote local development and actively applying for all kinds of cultural heritage

conservation projects at all levels. In 2006, the scenic area management agency was

established and scenic area management office was set up in the Xinhua Ziquejie

Terraces. The scope of its functions was clearly defined as scientific research,

scientific propaganda, conservation of heritage sites, and tourism services. “Interim

Protection Measures for the Ziquejie-Meishan Palace scenic area” was also issued to

incorporate terraced fields and folks houses into a unified range of protection and

management. In order to encourage local farmers to grow traditional high-quality

agricultural products, the government developed a series of seed subsidy management

practices and standards, and provided guidance for farmers in planting technology.

The government of Xinhua County pays more attention to the protection and

excavation of agricultural culture and landscape. The government has successively

invested more than 200 million RMB to carry out various heritage conservation

projects in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces, including terraced field protection projects,

natural gravity irrigation system restoration projects, comprehensive management

projects of small watershed ecological environment, folk song training programs,

residential landscape construction projects and viewing platform construction projects

in scenic areas and others. The government also has adopted the “County with living

culture and tourism” strategy for the revival, protection and development of Xinhua

folk songs as one of its strategic tasks. In early 2005, leading group of “Folk cultural

Heritage Rescue Project of Xinhua County” was set up and the “folk music and folk

literature editorial team” was organized to compile local folk songs of Xinhua County


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as pilot teaching materials. Ten folk song teams were organized to conduct training

work at the early stage. Folk art workshops were held to fully tap local Nuo opera,

martial arts, dance and folk grass dragon and other cultural resources of Shuiche Town.

The troupe of folk customs and culture performing art was formed and had carried out

a total of more than 10 cultural performances. In 2006, the “the Fourth Meishan

Academic Seminar on Culture and the First Meishan Tourism and Culture Festival of

China” was held. In the following years, “World Terraced Fields Seminar in Ziquejie”,

“Seminar of Culture and Tourism Cooperation of Great Meishan”, “Dialogue of Liao

Meixiang, the Leading Authority of Northern School of Yi-ology in Ziquejie”,

“Terraced Fields Heritage Protection Seminar in Ziquejie” and other special academic

research conferences were organized and held in succession to effectively promote the

cultural excavation and landscape protection in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces. More

than 80 researchers and enthusiasts of Meishan culture participated in the “Seminar of

the Excavation and Compiling of Tourism Resources of Meishan Culture” which was

held in November, 2013, with the eldest of 82 and the youngest of only 25 years old.

(2) Take Advantage of the Resources to Create High-quality Brand

In 2004, the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces officially entered in the provincial

candidate list for World Heritage by Hunan Province. In 2006, it was selected as the

first batch of National Natural and Cultural Heritage and also entered in the national

candidate list of World Cultural and Natural Heritage. In 2013, it was selected as the

first batch of China Nationally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (Figure 44).

In 2014, it was listed in the first batch World Heritage Irrigation Structure. In addition,

Xinhua folk songs were selected as the first batch of Intangible Cultural Heritage of

Hunan Province in 2006 and the second batch of National Intangible Cultural

Heritage of China in 2008. Louxia Village was listed as the second batch of

provincial-level historical and cultural village in 2009. Meishan Nuo Opera was

selected as third batch of National Intangible Cultural Heritage of China in 2011.

Meishan Martial Arts were selected as the fourth batch of National Intangible Cultural

Heritage of China in 2014.


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The government also actively promotes the industrialization of organic

agriculture and has contributed to the establishment and development of 23

agricultural enterprises in Xinhua County, among which 8 are located in the core area

of the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces. These agricultural enterprises are led by Hunan

Zinong Agriculture & Forestry Investment Limited Liability Company, Ziquejie

Branch of the Hunan Longping Hi-tech Specialized Grain Cooperative Association,

and Hunan Zique Manor Ecological Agricultural Development Limited Liability

Company. At present, some of these enterprises have been certified as national

pollution-free agricultural products, green agricultural products, organic agricultural

products, or received the geographical indications certification. They have established

the brand of “purple tribute rice” and also adopted the business model by integrating

enterprises, cooperatives, production bases and farmers to take advantages of the

national land transfer policy in the implementation of standardization demonstration

base construction projects of black Rice and red Rice in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces,

to develop the Ziquejie terraces as the national demonstration bases of organic rice

planting.

Figure 44. Monument of the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces as China-NIAHS

(3) Excavate the Cultural Connotation of Agriculture to Create Multifunctional

Agriculture

In order to fully demonstrate the multiple values of the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces,

the Xinhua County attaches great importance to the in-depth excavation of

agricultural culture in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces and proposes to take it as the core

to develop the multifunctional agriculture in the system by the integrating of tourism


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development, agricultural products processing, food culture and other aspects. ,

Xinhua County government has listed development of cultural tourism industry as the

“No.1 Project” of the county and established the “Leading Group of Industries with

Cultural Tourism Characteristic in Xinhua County” and “Xinhua County Cultural

Tourism Investment Co., Ltd.”. Focusing on the Meishan Dragon Palace, Big Bear

Mountain National Forest Park, Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces and other scenic areas, the

government continuously expands the influences of the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces by

strengthening tourism promotion activities and organizing tourism recommendation

fairs and festivals. Traditional farming methods of terraced fields are used to

vigorously develop organic agriculture, focusing on the development of high quality

black rice, purple rice, red rice, and other traditional food crops. Some other

traditional varieties and specialty products, such as honeysuckle, tea and herbs are

protected at the same time. Local high-quality traditional rice and other traditional

agricultural resources are fully used for in-depth processing ecological agricultural

products to upgrade the agricultural byproducts processing as leading industries and to

increase the added value of agricultural products. Protection and inheritance of the

traditional food culture and their cooking methods are also strengthened. Special

teams have been set up to investigate and record the cooking methods, process and

recipe of traditional snacks, traditional tea, traditional wine and traditional dishes

through household survey and interviews. The corresponding video and photos, text

and other data records are compiled.

(4) Strengthen Propaganda Activities to Create Geographical Indications

In order to effectively promote the agricultural heritage of the Xinhua Ziquejie

Terraces, a series of thematic traditional arts and cultural activities was organized and

held. A variety of media have increased the publicity about the agricultural culture in

the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces. The traditional farming culture museum was

constructed and opened in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces. In order to promote Xinhua

folk songs as an outstanding folk culture tourism business card, Xinhua County

government invested 150,000 RMB to coordinate and organize a professional team to


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create and rehearse a large scale folk song opera entitled Mountain Treasures led by

the Cultural Troupe of Xinhua County. In September 2011, the first International Rice

Cultural Festival and Outdoor Living Festival in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces were

held. In May 2012, the Chinese Photographers Association organized thousands of

photographers nationwide to gather at the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces to jointly hold the

First Tourism and Culture Festival of Great Meishan, attracting numerous media

reports and many guests at home and abroad. Lots of other activities have been

organized and held in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces to expand influences and impacts,

such as “Chiyou Hometown-Meishan of Xinhua” National Photography Contest,

“Ziquejie Cup” English TV Contest, and “Magic Great Meishan, Explore Ziquejie”.

In addition, a documentary named “Walking on the table” has been made and played

by CCTV 9 to promote local food culture and cultural landscape. The Xinhua Ziquejie

Terraces have been recognized as the “Hometown of Meishan Culture and Arts ",

“Hometown of Chinese Poetry”, “Hometown of National Martial Arts”, “Hometown

of Chiyou”, “Hometown of Chinese Folk Culture and Arts”, and so on.

5.2 Potentials and Opportunities for Sustainability and

Management of the GIAHS

5.2.1 Development Potential

(1) Preferable Ecological Conditions

Soil of the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces is sandy loam with rich organic matter

content, excellent structural condition, and strong permeability. The PH value of this

type of soil is acidic or neutral. The diversified land types are suitable for the growth

of a variety of commercial crops and agricultural crops. Within the core area of the

Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces, the soil with extremely high, high, and middle level of

organic matter content accounts for 38%, 16%, 28%, respectively. Located in mid and

low latitude region, the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces belongs to the subtropical monsoon

climate. This climate has both the characteristics of continental climate with sufficient

sunlight and warm temperature, and also the characteristics of maritime climate with

abundant rainfalls and humid and moist air. Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces have rich


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fracture water in bedrock, mountain springs, and mountain streams, and hold

abundant water resources. There are also dense forests and rich biodiversity in

Ziquejie region.

(2) Abundant Tourism Resources

The Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces have high aesthetic value, scientific value and

cultural value, with its distinctive characteristics of large scale, steep slopes, smooth

lines, and beautiful landscapes. Terraced fields, vegetation, river and folk houses as

the four major elements make up the farming culture landscape showing the harmony

between nature and human in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces. Also, due to the

mountainous terrain and intense humidity, clouds can be seen throughout the year. The

Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces have various spectacular landscapes for different seasons,

which are very attractive for the tourists. There are lots of concentrated pieces of

terraced fields distributed in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces, including Longpu, Shifeng,

Jinlong, Changshi, Baishui, Longxiang, Zhenglong, Zhile, and so on. Tourism

resources of Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces, together with Meishan Dragon Palace, Ancient

Towns of Upper Meishan, Big Bear Mountain National Forest Park and other tourist

attractions compose a complementary portfolio of tourism products. This region was

ranked as the forefront in Hunan Province because of its overall abundance of tourism

resources, taste, and development conditions. The tourism resources in Xinhua

County was classified as 8 main categories, 72 sub-categories, and 83 basic types,

including one world-class tourism resources, 8 national ones, and 17 provincial ones.

These tourism resources show the overall feature as full range of categories, a large

amount of resources, high level of

(3) Unique Regional Culture

Ziquejie region has rich culture, characterized by the long-standing and

well-established Meishan culture. Folk songs, ballads, love songs and Meishan martial

arts are all widely spreading among local people. In particular, the “Wuwa” folk songs

are high in tune and very popular. Nuo lion mask dance, grass dragon dance and Nuo

dance are all of unique styles. The Nuo lion mask dance is an ancient reproductive


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worship performance full of original flavor of life. The grass dragon dance uses

dragon all tied with straw grass and wild wormwood. According to the legend, the

grass dragon is the leader of all kinds of dragons and has the ability to ward off ghosts

and evil spirits. Local customs of marriage, birth and funeral has partly inherited that

of Miao and Yao ethnic groups in the history. There are 48 Yao village sites in the

Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces and many rock shelters that lived by Yao people in ancient

times, which are of great archaeological value. The unique natural environment

created the local specialties and unique food culture, such as the “ten kinds of meat,

ten kinds of vegetables and ten kinds of drinks” that had already became famous

brands.

5.2.2 Development Opportunities

(1) The External Environment of Tourism Development is Conducive to the

Development of Tourism in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces

In recent years, with the rapid development of tourism industry in China, a series

of tourism development strategies launched by Hunan Province, creating a good

opportunity for the tourism development in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces. A tourism

triangle centered around Changsha City has been proposed to mainly develop the

tourism in North, Central and South part of Hunan Province, and to link the tourism

development in West and East, so as to enhance the overall advantages of tourism

industry in Hunan Province. The Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces is 300km, 280km and

259km from Changsha, Zhuzhou and Xiangtan, respectively. It is 130km, 168km,

255km and 237km from Shaoyang, Huaihua, Hengyang and Yiyang, respectively. All

of them are in the transportation range of 3 hours by car and thus become the major

sources of tourists to the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces. The terraced fields, together with

the surrounding scenic spots have formed the complementary tourist routes. From the

perspective of relatively close distance, there are Gaozhou Hot Spring (resort),

Meishan Dragon Palace (karst landscape), Lion Mountain Park (entertainment and

adventure) and Big Bear National Forest Park and so on. From the perspective of

middle distance, there are Zhangjiajie, Hengshan Mountain and Phoenix Old City. All


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of them formed a complementary portfolio of tourism products that preserved the

distinctive characteristics of each tourism resource. This kind of complementary

advantage has provided the original impetus for regional tourism development.

(2) Safety of Agricultural Products Requires to Develop Ecological Agriculture

First of all, without clean soil, clean water and good environment, the production

of high-quality agricultural products would be impossible. In recent years, decline of

farmland quality, soil contamination, soil hardening and soil acidification have

occurred in many regions of the country. Increasing the supply of agricultural

products by chemical fertilizers, pesticides and other chemical inputs is not

sustainable anymore. Raising the sustainable production of agricultural products can

be achieved only by improving the farmland productivity, promoting the development

of eco-friendly agriculture, adopting the cultivation method by combining cropping

with animal husbandry, and improving the resource utilization. With the improvement

of people's living standards and public awareness for food quality and safety, the

demand of people for high quality agricultural products will also be increased.

Agricultural heritage sites have inherent advantages for developing ecological

agriculture, because of its high quality traditional rice varieties and good ecological

environment.

(3) Diversified Consumer Demands Bring Development Opportunities to Expand

Agricultural Functions

The economic development of China has entered a new stage. In terms of

consumer demands, the consumption of China in the past had obvious imitation

wave-features and now it has gradually come to an end. The personalized and

diversified consumption has become the mainstream. Agriculture not only has the

production function of products like rice, cotton and oil, meat, eggs and other

products, but also has important ecological functions and life functions, such as

biodiversity conservation, water and soil conservation, climate regulation, leisure and

tourism, landscape and recreation, scientific research, cultural heritage and so on.

With the development of industrialization and urbanization, the importance of the


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ecological and life functions of agriculture has become more important and prominent,

and brings opportunities for expanding the multi-function development of the Xinhua

Ziquejie Terraces.

(4) Resource and Environmental Constraints Revive the Ecological Protection

Principle of Traditional Agriculture

In terms of the resource and environmental constraints, the current carrying

capacity of the environment has been at or near its upper limit, and the agricultural

development must conform to the expectation of people for a good ecological

environment and thus to promote the formation of a new development model

characterized by green and low-carbon cycle. Chinese traditional agriculture contains

a wealth of ecological thoughts, such as the “theory of yin and yang and five

elements”, “the San-cai theory of God, earth and human”, and other traditional views

of nature. All of them thought that human being should protect water, soil, and other

creatures and recycle all the resources, while following the mutual facilitation and

restriction laws between biological creatures. The development model of the

traditional agriculture plays an important role in the sustainable development of

agriculture. The landscape formed by forests, terraced fields, folk houses and rivers in

the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces contains a wealth of ecological thoughts about resource

utilization and ecosystem protection.

(5) Brand Influences of Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces Have Formed Initially

The Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces are World Heritage Irrigation Structure, China

Nationally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems, National Natural and Cultural

Heritage, National Scenic Spot, National Water Conservancy Scenic Area, and

National AAAA Tourist Attraction. Local government has increased the protection

and publicity of the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces and is positively applying for National

AAAAA Tourist Attraction. Xinhua County government and Ziquejie Scenic Tourism

Development Co., Ltd. have organized a series of tourism promotion activities, such

as “International Tourism Festival of Hunan Province, China”, “Tourism Carnival -

Meet in the Double Seventh Festival and Find Your Loved Ones in Ziquejie” and


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“Charming Hunan and Xinhua”. The tourism income of the Ziquejie Scenic Areas had

increased from 12 million RMB in 2005 to 322 million RMB in 2013, with the

number of visitors from 30,300 to 787,000, indicating the continuous expansion of the

influences of tourism brand.

Figure 45. Change of Tourism Income and Number of Tourists in Ziquejie Scenic Areas from 2005

to 2013

5.3 Expected Impacts of GIAHS on Society and Ecology

5.3.1 Social Impacts

Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces are a unique mode of production and land use pattern

created by local farmers by adapting to the local conditions, and is also a successful

example of harmony between man and nature. The systemic protection of the Xinhua

Ziquejie Terraces can better protect the excellent germplasm resources, traditional

farming techniques, local farming culture and biodiversity, enlarge the popularity and

reputation of the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces, and enhance the protection awareness of

local farmers, in order to achieve a win-win situation between social effects and

economic effects. The agricultural heritage conservation strategy should consider the

ecological environment as basis, take traditional farming culture as the core and use

cultural creativity as means to strengthen the protection of agricultural heritage, to

realize agricultural multi-functions, to enhance multi-cultural heritage value of this

system, to transfer the agricultural heritage into practical productive forces, to


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improve the living standards of residents in this heritage site, to enhance the

management capability of local government on agricultural heritage, to enhance

cultural consciousness of local farmers in this region, and to improve the capacity

and level of community involvement in management.

5.3.2 Ecological Impacts

The traditional terraced field farming methods have unique advantages in climate

adaptation, ecosystem services, environmental purification, production, and so on.

The Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces consist of forests, terraced fields, water, and houses, in

which the forest conserves water, the terraced fields use gravity irrigation, the villages

are constructed according to the topography, the houses are constructed by local

materials with well-proportioned layouts. This landscape reflects the concept of

“Unity of Nature and Man” in Chinese traditional culture. This type of ecosystem

pattern and concept provide a reference for other similar regions to learn the land use

pattern, multifunctional agriculture, and low-carbon operation. In addition, since

GIAHS program emphasizes the protection of traditional cultural heritage and

agricultural biodiversity, it has the positive effect on the rural environmental

protection and water and soil conservation etc., and also provides new opportunities

for the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces to achieve sustainable development.

5.4 Motivation of the Local Community, the Local/national

Authorities and other Relevant Stakeholders

5.4.1 Local Community

The Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces are the product of rice cultivation culture, which

shows wisdom of local farmers gradually accumulated in the long history and during

the process of human survival and development. It is the main source of livelihood,

the cultural foundation and the living environment of local communities. Local

farmers are positive and active in the protection of terraced fields. At first, local

farmers hope to increase their income, eliminate poverty, acquire wealth, and strive

for a relative comfortable life through the protection and development of terraced

fields. Second, local farmers hope to protect the terraced fields inherited from


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generation to generation through the GIAHS project. Elderly farmers have deeper

feelings and attachments to terraced fields, therefore they have stronger desire to

protect and inherit the terraced field cultivation culture. Third, local farmers hope to

enhance their sense of place and cultural pride towards terraced field cultivation

culture through the protection of terraced fields. Fourth, some migrant workers who

used to work outside decide to return their hometowns, and actively participate in the

protection of terraced fields, learn and inherit the traditional farming methods and

traditional folk culture.

5.4.2 The People's Government of Xinhua County

Tourism development of the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces will inevitably involve the

protection of traditional culture, the use of land resources, the maintenance of

biodiversity, and many other issues. Those problems would require the government to

promote the integration and intensive use of land resources by laws, policy, institution

and planning. There are lots of reasons for the government to actively get involve in

the development and protection of heritage fields. At first, the traditional farming

culture and modernized business operations require the community residents to

vigorously cooperate with the government since the government has great advantages

in terms of administrative organization. The government will guide the modernization

transformation of agricultural production and life styles of farmers by community

building and to cultivate the agricultural heritage protection awareness among

residents so as to ensure their initiative participation in tourism development. In the

early stages of tourism development, the government will actively promote the

institutional innovation of cultural tourism enterprises, and promote restructuring of

the cultural tourism enterprises for the formation of cultural tourism corporations with

high brand effects. Secondly, the government has an overall development perspective.

They are taking the sustainable development of agricultural heritage and increase of

the income of local farmers as core objectives. Their neutral authority in the

distribution of benefits and disputes of benefit will enhance the confidence degree of

enterprises and residents in the government. Finally, the government hopes to achieve


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sustainable development of the heritage site through the effective protection of

traditional cultural and biological diversity. Specialized teams were established to

excavate the cultural values of traditional agriculture. Series academic research

conferences were held, such as “International Terraced Fields Seminar in Ziquejie”

and “Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces Protection Seminar”. In addition, Xinhua County

government has also constructed the traditional farming culture museum to effectively

promote the inheritance of agricultural heritages of this region.

5.4.3 The People's Government of China

The Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces has a long history and is a typical example of the

traditional agricultural production model. It has high landscape value, cultural value

and economic value. Since the central government provided major support for its

protection and development, it was selected as China Nationally Important

Agricultural Heritage Systems, National Natural and Cultural Heritage, National

Water Conservancy Scenic Area, and so on. The central government attaches great

importance for the protection and development of the Ziquejie terraces for the

following reasons. At first, the central government hopes to protect and preserve the

important agricultural heritages with high historical values for the future generations

in China. Secondly, the central government hopes to establish typical model and

demonstrative example to promote the protection and development of agricultural

heritages in other places. Third, through the positive influence of GIAHS, the central

government hopes to promote regional cooperation, make full use of the economic

and ecological benefits from terraced fields, and promote the sustainable development

of the ecological agriculture.

5.4.4 Related Enterprises

Eight agricultural enterprises were set up in the core area of the Xinhua Ziquejie

Terraces and some of their products have already been certified as national organic,

green, or geographical identification products. Brands of local specialized agricultural

products with higher added value were established for the traditional high quality

purple rice, black rice and red rice. Enterprises or cooperatives were taken as the main


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players in the certification of pollution-free, green, organic or geographical indication

agricultural products. The GIAHS or NIAHS labels can be used for the agricultural

products that met the standard by adopting the enterprise application, third-party

certification and governmental approval methods. In addition, “Xinhua County

Cultural Tourism Investment Co., Ltd.” was established to strengthen the overall

tourism promotional activities, and organize travel and tourism festival promotions, so

as to continuously expand the influence of the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces. Enterprises

related to agricultural products and tourism in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces all hope

that their products could enjoy higher value with the help of GIAHS. In that case,

their product value and popularity will be enhanced and economic output could be

increased, so as to realize long term development of these enterprises.

5.4.5 Tourists

The Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces are the cultural and historical relics that integrated

the southern rice cultivation culture and the fishing and hunting culture of Miao and

Yao ethnic groups. The beauty of the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces based on its large

scope and delicate shape has attracted countless tourists and wins its high popularity.

Visitors wish the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces to be well preserved since they would like

to appreciate the splendid and unique view, to experience the unique traditional

farming culture, to taste the delicious food, and to sense the elegant charms of its

ancient civilization.


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6. Dynamic Protection Outline of Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces

6.1 Conservation Baseline

6.1.1 A Series of Protection Measures have been Taken

(1) Strengthen Application for Related Heritages. Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces

was officially inscribed in the candidate list for World Heritage of Hunan Province in

2004; Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces were included in the first batch of National Natural

and Cultural Heritages and the candidate list of World Cultural and Natural Heritage

of China in 2006; it was inscribed in the first batch of China Nationally Important

Agricultural Heritage System in 2013, and Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces was included in

the first World Heritage List of Irrigation Projects in 2014; at the same time, Xinhua

folk songs were selected as the first batch of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Hunan

Province in 2006, and was selected as the second batch of National Intangible

Cultural Heritage of China in 2008; Louxia Village, as the core heritage area, was

listed as the second batch of provincial-level historical and cultural village in 2009;

Meishan Nuo Opera was selected as third batch of National Intangible Cultural

Heritage of China in 2011 and Meishan Martial Arts were selected as the fourth batch

of National Intangible Cultural Heritage of China in 2014.

(2) Relevant publicity and exchange activities were held. Folk art workshops

were held to fully tap local Nuo opera, martial arts, dance and folk grass dragon and

other local cultural resources. The folk customs and culture performing art troupe was

formed and had carried out more than 10 cultural performances of various folk

customs. The “Fourth Meishan Academic Seminar on Culture and the First Meishan

Tourism and Culture Festival of China” was held in 2006. In previous years, “World

Terraced Fields Seminar in Ziquejie Region”, “Seminar of Culture and Tourism

Cooperation of Great Meishan”, “Dialogue of Liao Moxiang, the Leading Authority

of Northern School of Yi-ology in Ziquejie Region”, “Ziquejie Region Terraced Fields

Heritage Protection Seminar” and other special academic research conference were

organized and held in succession to effectively promote the cultural excavation and


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landscape protection of agricultural heritage in Ziquejie Terraced region. “Seminar of

the Excavation and Compiling of Tourism Resources of Meishan Culture” held in

November, 2013. “Chiyou Hometown-Meishan of Xinhua” National Photography

Contest Spring Collection Activity, “Ziquejie Cup” English TV Contest, “Magic Great

Meishan, Explore the Ziquejie Region” focused interview of TV media of Hunan and

other activities have been organized and held in succession in Ziquejie scenic region

to expand its influences and impacts.

(3) Strengthen the Branding of Ziquejie. the First International Rice Cultural

Festival and Outdoor Living Festival in Terraced Fields of Ziquejie Region was held

In September 2011,; the Chinese Photographers Association organized thousands of

photographers nationwide to gather at Ziquejie Terraces scenic region in May 2012

and jointly hold the 2012 First Tourism and Culture Festival of Great Meishan of

Hunan Province in Ziquejie region, attracting numerous media reports and many

guests at home and abroad. In addition, with the promotion of local food culture and

cultural landscape through the “Walking table” series of the documentary channel of

CCTV 9, this region has been recognized as the “Chinese Meishan Culture and Arts

Village", “Hometown of Chinese Poetry”, “National Martial Arts Village”, “Chiyou

Hometown Cultural Village of China”, “Chinese Folk Culture and Arts Village” and

other cultural geographical titles.

(4) Promoting the Development of Relevant Industries. Xinhua Ziquejie

Terraces were authorized as the Provincial Key Scenic Spots of Hunan Province in

2004, and recognized as a national scenic area in December 2005. Xinhua Ziquejie

Terraces were selected as one of the Eight Scenic Spots of New Xiaoxiang in 2007. It

was announced as the National Water Scenic Area by the Ministry of Water Resources

in August, 2009. This region was approved as a national AAAA level scenic spot with

the Xiatuan Village and Zhenglong Village being selected as famous tourism villages

in Hunan Province in December 2012. Some products have received organic, green,

pollution-free, GI product certification and other certifications, promoting the


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development of agricultural industrialization. Leading enterprises were cultivated and

high-quality agricultural production bases were constructed.

6.1.2 Guiding Principles for Future Work was Clarified

(1) The Principle of Sustainable Utilization

Agricultural Heritage as a new type of heritage mainly reflects the dynamic

balance between human activities and the natural environment. Xinhua Ziquejie

Terraces contains the idea of sustainable development, makes the system passing from

generation to generation and enjoys long-lasting prosperity. Protection is a

prerequisite for development, and development is the way to realize protection,

therefore, the establishment of protection and development planning of Xinhua

Ziquejie Terraces have to emphasize protection as a foundation for utilization, to

promote the ecological and cultural heritage protection through the development and

utilization of resources, to prevent destructive development and to create cultural

brand on the basis of protection so as to promote cultural values.

(2) The Principle of Multi stakeholders-participation

Protection and development of Agricultural Heritage emphasize the participation

of multi-parties and benefit-sharing. Governmental leadership, academic support and

the full support of all sectors of society is the basic idea of multi

stakeholders-participation. Protection of Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces should clarify all

interest parties and determine their respective responsibilities and obligations as well

as their interests in the dynamic protection process in order to mobilize the enthusiasm

of all parties and individuals to participate in the protection of agricultural heritage. A

variety of organizations and individuals, including government, companies, and

farmers and so on, will provide strong support for heritage conservation and

development, and contribute to the establishment of benefit-sharing mechanism to

improve the fairness of the distribution of benefits.

(3) The Principle of Dynamic Protection

Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces is an agricultural production system that integrates

production, ecological and cultural functions. Therefore, protection of Ziquejie


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Terraces should be focused on maintaining agricultural biodiversity and agricultural

cultural diversity, and adjusting means of protection and improving their ability to

adapt in accordance to changing social, economic and natural conditions functional

expansion is the most important work in agricultural heritage development and the

expansion of heritage functions on the basis of protection will improve the overall

ecological, economic and social benefits of the integrated system.

(4) The Principle of Integrated Conservation

Agricultural Heritage is a complex social - economic - natural ecosystem that

integrates ecology, environment, landscape, culture, technologies and other tangible

and intangible heritage characters. Protection of the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces requires

the systematic thinking to realize the overall protection and to realize the coordinated

development of the subsystems. We shall give full play to the social, economic,

ecological and other multiple benefits of Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces in order to achieve

the development of harmony between man and nature in the heritage sites.

6.1.3 Analysis of the Multi-values of Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces

(1) Ecological Value

In addition to Purple Fragrant Tribute Rice, Black Rice, Red Rice and other

traditional rice varieties, a wide variety of other food crops, oil crops, vegetables,

fruits and herbs are cultivated in Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces. At the meantime, chicken,

ducks, pigs, cattle, sheep, poultry and other livestock are widely farmed by local

farmer households. Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces are also rich in diversity of aquatic

organisms, including fish, shelled animals, Amphibians, mollusks, insects and other

aquatic organisms. 20 plants belong to grade I, II and III of national protected plants

respectively and animals listed in national and provincial grade I, II, III protection are

as many as 41 kinds. The top of mountains in Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces are covered

by dense forests providing good conditions for rain and water retention; the mountain

bedrock is made of granite with solid bottom and few fractures holding the water

resources as like as the water-proof bottom of a pond. In addition, the soil on top of

the granite is sandy loam with good water holding capacity. Dense vegetation


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covering Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces has delivered significant climate regulation effect,

indicated by the annual average temperature of 13.7 ℃ in Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces,

which is 3 ℃ lower than that of the Xinhua county.

(2) Economic Value

Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces are the foundation of food production and agricultural

development of residents living in Xinhua Ziquejie Terraced region from generation

to generation. This is a region of rich natural resources and high-quality genetic

resources. Modern agriculture mode featured with huge resources and energy

consumption has caused a series of drawbacks. On the other hand, traditional

agriculture featuring efficient production, high quality and free of pollution is

increasingly demonstrating many advantages. Covered by clouds year round, the

temperature difference between day and night in Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces is huge.

The terraces in this region mainly rely on gravity irrigation of water from granite

bedrock fissure, which is clean and rich in calcium, iron, zinc, selenium and other

minerals. All these conditions have made Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces the most suitable

region for high-quality rice cultivation. Ziquejie region is one of the major regions for

purple rice production and purple rice produced in this region was designated as

tribute rice in Qing Dynasty, and it is considered as a region of great potential for the

development of efficient agriculture with ecological functions. At the same time, the

unique forest, terraces, settlement and colorful landscape in Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces

are combined with the regional lifestyle. The natural beauty, historical beauty,

geomorphological beauty and cultural beauty are integrated to form distinctive and

unique tourism resources with great potential for tourism development. To protect the

agricultural heritage in Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces is to fully exploit its multifunctional

and efficient agricultural development potential based on the development of organic

agriculture and eco-tourism. In addition, its important ecological value contains

tremendous external benefits, which can bring ecological compensation through its

heritage protection and help to achieve internalization of its external benefits and the

demonstration of implicit economic values.


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(3) Social Value

Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces are rich in water resources and diverse in types of

lands, suitable for cultivation and farming of a variety of economic crops and food

crops. This region abounds in the production of honeysuckle, gastrodia elata,

Eucommia ulmoides, radix polygonati offcinalis and other Chinese herbal medicines.

There are more than ten thousand mu of honeysuckle cultivation bases and more than

fifty thousand mu of production bases of other Chinese medicine in this region that

are famous in Hunan Province. This region also abounds in the production of

middle-season rice, red rice and black rice of high quality as well as smoked bacon

products specially made in Shuiche Town that are world-famous; there are abundant

bamboo resources as well; the tribute tea produced in Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces is the

best among all tea selections and of the best-selling kinds in domestic market; there

are also local flavor snacks and foods made of glutinous rice flour, such as glutinous

rice cake of Shuiche Town as well as frozen fish of Shuiche Town. The main sources

of income for local farmers are cultivation, farming and remittance from migrant labor.

Thanks to the excellent ecological environment of Ziquejie region, local farmers are

able to develop ecological agriculture and local agricultural products. In recent years,

with strengthened leisure agriculture and tourism development, tourism revenue and

amount of visitors have increased year by year, leading to increase incomes of

residents in surrounding areas. Therefore, Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces had played an

important role in the livelihood security of farmers.

(4) Cultural Value

Ziquejie region has rich cultural heritages and together with the long-standing

and well-established Meishan culture. Folk songs, ballads, love songs and Meishan

martial arts are all widely spreading among the people. In particular, the “Wuwa” folk

songs are high in tune and enjoy great popularity and great charm. Nuo mask lion

dance, grass dragon dance and religion Nuo dance are of unique styles, in which the

Nuo mask lion dance is an ancient reproductive worship performance full of original

flavor of life; while the grass dragon dance uses dragon all tied with straw grass and


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wild wormwood because the grass dragon is the leader of all dragons and has the

ability to ward off ghosts and evil spirits according to legend. Customs of marriage,

birth and funeral contain the remnants of manners and customs of Miao and Yao

ethnic groups. With a thousand years passed, the customs and manners remains almost

the same. There are 48 Yao people village relic sites in Ziquejie region and many

other rock shelters lived by Yao people in ancient times, which are of great

archaeological value.

Food culture. Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces are rich in the production of

middle-season tribute rice and red rice, black rice specialties that are rich in nutrients

and aroma and can help to raise appetite. The glutinous rice being produced is of

especially high quality, which in turn made the long-standing reputation of glutinous

rice cake of Shuiche Town. There are firewood smoked meats, balls made of pig

blood, smoked duck, frozen fish, sweet rice wine, konjak, dried bamboo roots,

pteridum aquilinum and other special snacks with great taste and unique flavor. The

frozen fish of Shuiche Town in particular is considered as one of the best. The

cooking method is simple yet elegant since the water must be drawn from local

mountain spring and the fish must be produced and harvested locally as well. The fish

is cooked with any cooking oil and will be placed in a cellar or well for frozen after

cooking. Chopped hot pepper and other condiments are used to decorate semi-crystal

fish jelly make a delicate view of red and white that greatly arise one’s appetite while

the taste in the mouth is smooth and rosy.

The Gan-lan style folk houses are of unique characters. The Gan-lan style plank

folk houses are inhabited over generations in Ziquejie region for several thousands of

years. Villages formed by concentrated Gan-lan style folk houses are Zhenglong Folk

Houses, Louxia Folk Houses, Changshi Folk Houses and Xixi Folk Houses, among

which folk houses in Zhenglong Village formed the largest scale with more than 200

individual folk houses. Thickly dotted folk houses looked from a distance are indeed

individual buildings containing separated courtyard that can grow vegetables, fruit

and other plants in a closer look. Every building is decorated with carved corner claws


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and walls and windows made of woven bamboo. With external coated in white lime,

those concentrated folk houses are of great ornamental value.

(5) Scientific Research Value

Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces have important scientific values in the fields of

agriculture, agro-ecology, agricultural economy, rural development, national ecology,

anthropology, etc. First of all, with a history dated back to the Qin and Han Dynasties,

Ziquejie region has a long history of rice cultivation that can provide a good

foundation for the studies of ancient rice culture in China. Secondly, Xinhua Ziquejie

Terraces have a wide variety of traditional rice germplasm represented by the fragrant

purple tribute rice, black rice and red rice. After a long process of selection, rice

varieties in Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces are of excellent quality and form a gene pool

that provide good conditions for the research of genetic resources. In addition, Xinhua

Ziquejie Terraces also have biodiversity conservation, water conservation, soil

conservation, climate regulation, gas regulation, environmental cleanup and other

important ecosystem services, which are an important aspect of ecology research.

Most importantly, ancient residents in Ziquejie built terraces according to the Ziquejie

topography, geology, soil, forest vegetation and water features and local conditions,

and created effective gravity irrigation with simple engineering facilities, along with

traditional farming methods that were compatible with the environment. These

methods are still widely in use and serve as a typical example of soil and water

conservation ecosystem works and were selected by the International Commission on

Irrigation and Drainage Irrigation Project as the first batch in the list of World’s

Irrigation and Drainage Irrigation Project Heritage.

(6) Demonstrative Value

In the long history of Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces, farming techniques acclimatized

to the environment and nature were formed, and are valuable experience for the

research and practices of agricultural production of rice in terraced fields; as a typical

application of traditional agriculture of rice cultivation in terraced fields, Xinhua

Ziquejie Terraced system is one of the most important Chinese agricultural heritages


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and can serve as a showcase of demonstrative values for heritage protection and

development of other regions and the development of rice cultivation in terraced

fields in China and the rest of the world. Xinhua Ziquejie Terraced system with

sustainable features can also provide a showcase for the sustainable agriculture and

rural development in China.

6.1.4 Protection Area and Core Area of Agricultural Heritage Zoned

Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces Protection area of agricultural heritage is Xinhua

County. Xinhua County located in the central to west area of Hunan Province and

west of Loudi City. This region lies along Xuefeng Mountain and occupies its

southeast side and locates at the middle area of Zishui River. This region is located at

latitude 27°31'-28°14', longitude 110°45'-111°41', with a total area of 3642 square

kilometers, of which, 72.68 million mu are arable land, an area of 286.08 hectares are

woodland. Xinhua County jurisdiction covers 26 towns, one developing zone, one

neighborhood office, two state-owned tree farms, with a total population of 140

million people.

Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces Protection core area of agricultural heritage is located

southwest of Xinhua County, involving three towns, namely Shuiche Town, Fengjia

Town and Wentian Town. The core area is about 460.3 square kilometers, accounting

for 12.6 percent of total land area of Xinhua County, of which 30,510 hectares are

woodland, accounting for 68.3 percent, 7,564 hectares are arable land, accounting for

16.94 percent, and more than eighty percent of arable lands are paddy fields. The core

area covers three townships and 83 villages, is home to about 90,000 people.


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Fig. 1 Function Division of Heritage Sites

6.2 Further Initiatives to Promote GIAHS

In accordance with the management concepts of GIAHS and important

agricultural heritage of China proposed by FAO and the Chinese Ministry of

Agriculture, the People's Government of Xinhua County plans to spend about 10

years (2015 - 2025) to build Xinhua Ziquejie Terrace into a demonstration base of rice

terrace and irrigated agriculture in Southern China, a demonstration site of

agricultural landscape tourism, a showcase of rice terrace culture and an excellent

pilot of agricultural heritage management. Specific protection and development

measures under consideration include eco-agriculture protection, agricultural culture

protection, agricultural landscape protection, eco-agriculture development,

recreational agriculture development, and development of both cultural self-esteem

and management capability.

6.2.1 Protection of Agriculture Ecosystem

Establish germplasm gene bank and realize protection of biological diversity

based on the resources survey conducted over the traditional rice varieties, other crop

germplasm resources and associated flora and fauna biodiversity.


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Divide the protected forest area into different functional forest areas for the

targeted protection of ecological forest resources based on the survey of forest

vegetation resources.

Protect water sources and establish water supply systems in rural areas to ensure

safe and convenient access to clean water.

Establish mechanisms for the rural ecological environment protection and

construct biogas digesters to ensure that human and animal feces could be directed

into digesters for the generation of clean energy.

Strengthen environmental governance and road repairs in rural areas and to

improve the living garbage treatment level.

Establish agro-ecological monitoring and protection network system.

Establish disaster monitoring, early warning system and agro-ecological

demonstration base to achieve a balance between ecological benefits and the

economic benefits of farmers.

6.2.2 Protection of Agricultural Culture

Extensively collect traditional farming knowledge and skills of terraced

cultivation to form a systematic database of texts, videos and images.

Establish a special classification system and protection methods by widely

purchasing and collecting traditional farming tools.

Extensively collect and document the related materials and documents of

traditional folklore and traditional arts and to form corresponding audio, video and

other data through modern digital methods;

conduct a detailed investigation and recording of traditional cuisines and recipes,

etc., and make the corresponding video and photos, text and other data recorded;

establish farming museums to exhibit or display the collected related objects,

videos and photographs;

achieve digital display and dissemination on the internet of traditional farming

knowledge, technology, equipment, as well as folk art through modern technical

means;


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carry out regular trainings traditional on tillage knowledge, farming techniques

and traditional folk cultural heritages;

help the general public to learn more about, pay more attention to and more

willing to protect Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces though seminars, skills training, publicity

pamphlets, readings, legal Q &A service concerning protection regulations of

agricultural culture, quizzes on the local rules or regulations and other means to

strengthen the transmission of traditional farming techniques and farming knowledge.

Actively carry out heritage education among middle and primary school students

concerning the traditional agricultural culture of Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces in order to

cultivate the cultural identity of middle and primary school students towards the

traditional farming knowledge, technology, food, folklore and other excellent

traditions in Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces.

6.2.3 Protection of Agricultural Landscape

To determine a reasonable proportion of arable and forest lands, focusing on

protection of water source forests on the hilltop and to implement projects of

afforestation to increase forest coverage.

Protect famous trees and old trees through labelling, recording and specialized

management to strengthen the special protection of ancient and famous trees.

repair field ridges and ditches based on the protection of original ecological

environment;

systematically summarize the principles of natural gravity irrigation system and

its scientific management of water and water systems by creating digital products

showing graphic and animated interpretation for publicity and training;

conduct training of young farmers of the knowledge and inheritance of traditional

cultures and restore the traditional water inspectorate system;

speed up the recovery of abandoned terraced fields and terraced dry lands

transformed from paddy fields to ensure maximum rice cultivation areas with

adequate water resources;


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strengthen the renovation and management of the “mountain-water-terraced

fields-folk houses” village landscape to maintain a harmonious relationship between

man and the overall landscape;

establish a special fund to protect traditional folk houses and accelerate repairing

and restoration of traditional heritage folk houses; repairing, maintenance and

protective development will be concentrated on Zhenglong Village as the “Chinese

Traditional Villages” and Louxia Village as the “Provincial Historical and Cultural

Village of Hunan”. Application of Louxia Village for designation of “National-level

Historical and Cultural Village” will be actively carried out.

6.2.4 Development of Eco-Agriculture

To encourage cultivation of traditional high-quality varieties of crops and

establish a special heritage compensation mechanism for terraced fields in heritage

sites;

set up a special protection fund for terraced fields, establish a reward system to

encourage the traditional rice production in terraced fields, and scientifically develop

the award criteria and scope.

improve the heritage land transfer system and expand the scale of organic rice

cultivation in terraced fields;

establish technique standards for traditional rice cultivation for strengthening the

technical guidance of traditional farming and encouraging and supporting farmers to

raise ducks and fish in paddy fields so as to promote this and other complex

ecological agricultural technologies to improve economic efficiency;

optimize the distribution of high-quality rice production base, high-quality tea

base, high yield herbal demonstration base, small grains production base, duck, cattle

and other ecological farming bases;

strengthen certification of pollution-free, green food, organic agricultural

products and the geographical indications as well as usage of agricultural heritage

label;


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vigorously develop local deep-processed products using high-quality traditional

and local agricultural products as the main raw material and to develop

multi-functional foods to increase the added value of agricultural products;

promote the local specialty products of high quality through media channels

such as television, radio, newspapers, magazines and other media and carry out the

promotion of all types of products from multi-level and multi-angle channels and

actively participate in various agricultural exhibitions and promotional activities;

establish an internet platform for agricultural products of Xinhua Ziquejie

Terraces to showcase the featured products of heritage sites, and market information;

provide capital, technology, policy and other related support for agricultural

enterprises and to develop farmer households, family farming(livestock) field and

farmer cooperatives with large scale production of traditional agriculture varieties;

innovate the production and business model of traditional agricultural products by

learning from modern agricultural business philosophy and strengthening cooperation

and association of farmers; to encourage enterprises to build production bases for

enterprises and cooperatives to lead farmers;

strengthen the guidance for farmers to practice traditional technical and establish

benefit sharing mechanisms.

6.2.5 Development of Recreational Agriculture

Build a recreational development pattern focusing on “one center, three zones and

six clusters”, which consist of comprehensive service tourism center of Shangmei

Ancient Town of Xinhua County, experimental zone of terraced rice cultivation in

Ziquejie region, scenic zone of health preservation in Daxiong Mountain, culture and

leisure zone of Meishan Mountain, cluster of Ziquejie region, cluster of Shangmei

Ancient Town, cluster of Chetianjiang, cluster of Meishan Dragon Palace and cluster

of Suxihe River. A set of recreational agriculture development systems integrating

agricultural production, cultural experiences, ecological protection, product

processing and leisure recreation featuring rich types of industries and distinctive

characteristics will be developed.


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designate Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces as the eco-agriculture demonstration zone, the

rice culture demonstration area, the leisure and health demonstration zone and

creative agriculture park;

design and develop the agricultural heritage souvenirs and conduct the exhibition,

promotion and marketing of those souvenirs.

improve infrastructure and facilities of the recreational agriculture by enhancing

information services and strengthening tourism reception capacity of existing hotels

and restaurants through upgrading.

clarify functions of relevant government departments and tourism companies and

to cultivate agricultural heritage awareness among residents in order to initiate their

active participation in the development cause of recreational agriculture while

attention shall be paid to the protection of farmers’ rights.

6.2.6 Construction of Cultural self-esteem

prepare textbooks for officials and leaders, agricultural technology manuals,

reading materials for elementary or junior high school students, and integrate the

content of agricultural heritages into exhibitions and enrollment in school education in

order to promote understanding of Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces;

develop deep affection and sense of pride in local residents towards the

agricultural heritages and to raise awareness and participation of all related parties in

the protection and development of cultural heritages;

film propaganda video materials, make tourism brochures and calendars

containing introduction of Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces, and use traditional media

channels such as newspapers, radio, television, high-speed intersection boards, etc. as

well as microblogging and WeChat and other new media platforms to disseminate

agricultural heritage and related products in a more lively and practical way

conducive to the heritage protection and development of Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces;

by means of culture to the countryside and other means the cultural sector shall

carry out the farmers’ education, produce and distribute audio-visual materials to

disseminate agricultural heritage and its protection and development ideas;


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the agricultural technology sector shall integrate agricultural heritage protection

and development of ecological agriculture into daily work, and include agricultural

heritage in agricultural technical training;

sponsor, participate and organize agricultural and cultural exchange activities,

especially academic activities themed with Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces to excavate

multiple values and diverse cultural systems;

organize photographic exhibition, essay competition, collect, write and film

poetry, prose, fiction, photographic products relating to Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces so

as to raise publicity of agricultural heritage of Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces.

6.2.7 Construction of Management Ability

Set up appropriate agencies for the agricultural heritage protection and

development of Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces and enhance the protection, utilization and

management ability of the government concerning protection of cultural heritage by

enriching and supplementing professional management personnel and designating

permanent staff dedicated to the protection of cultural heritage of agriculture,

development, education, and other aspects ;

establish and perfect relevant rules and regulations for participation of

communities suitable to carry out the protection of Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces to

legalize decision-making related to community participation in the protection of

agricultural heritage in order to ensure the seriousness and continuity of community

participation in the implementation of protection;

carry out agricultural heritage training for grass root agricultural technicians,

managers and entrepreneurs, establish and improve agricultural extension and training

system by carrying out technical training to improve the knowledge of local residents

and to develop their various business capacity so as to increase the enthusiasm of

local residents in the participation of cultural heritage protection and development of

agriculture;


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establish product tracing system, product recoding system and food safety system

to prevent and stop illegal activities so as to realize a healthy and orderly development

of cultural heritage protection and development;

establish Agricultural Heritage Fund Board of Xinhua County and allocate

appropriate certain amount of the special fund annually for the award to organizations

and individuals that have made outstanding contribution to the development of

heritage sites so as to promote the enthusiasm of residents and enterprises in heritage

sites towards the protection cause;

guide farmers to participate in the construction of production bases in the form of

land and labor shares or to participate in specialized farmer cooperatives to turn the

scattered smallholder production into large-scale production in the form of production

bases.

6.3 Strategies to Cope with Threats and Challenges

6.3.1 Challenges

(1) Terrace Ecosystem Influenced by Natural and Human Factors

Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces are located in the hilly region with a prevailing

subtropical monsoon climate featuring concentrated rainfalls, most of which are

rainstorms. As a result, this region is an erodible fragile area typically seen in hilly

areas of Southern China. Frequency of extremely dry weather in Xinhua Ziquejie

Terraces has increased dramatically in recent years under the background of global

climate change and exacerbated extreme weather phenomena. For example, from July

1 to August 15, 2013, influenced by the strong subtropical high pressure, Xinhua

County experienced continued hot weather with an average temperature of 31.6℃

that was the highest in history; the number of consecutive days with daily maximum

temperature ≥35.0℃ was up to 36 days, which was a record high. During August

10-13, daily maximum temperature extremes lasting more than 40 degrees with the

highest temperature up to 40.8 degrees were a record high. According to the survey, 3

hectares of terraced field in Longpu Village became dry land due to lack of water.

Other villages also experienced a small amount of terraced fields turning into dry


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lands due to lack of water. Pollution and destruction caused by growing tourism, such

as the agri-tourism, is even more alarming since tourism generated a large amount of

waste and disorder of residential construction. With the departure of rural labor force,

technology with high yield and labor saving effects gradually replaced traditional

agricultural technology, increased use chemical fertilizers and pesticides , reduced use

of human and animal power, thinned the plough layer of terraced fields, and

increased soil bulk density and weakened soil water and fertility conservation

capacity .

(2) Traditional Agricultural Production Methods was Challenged

Due to relatively low comparative income and high opportunity costs, production

cost plus wage costs in the terraced rice-growing region have already exceeded the

value of rice products according to survey. A large number of rural laborers became

migrant workers and incomes from migrant work have increasingly become the most

important source of household income. At the same time, low-income and high labor

of agricultural production greatly reduced the attachment of new generation of

farmers to lands. Terraced lands being left uncultivated has become one of the most

outstanding social problems in current rural regions. According to the survey, more

than 70% of young rural residents in Xinhua Ziquejie Terraced Fields region went out

and became migrant workers and non-farming incomes accounted for 78% of the total

household income. In practice, only the elderly, women and children were left behind

to take on agricultural production since a large number of young labor forces went out

and became migrant workers. It is difficult for those left in the villages to resume

the responsibility of terraced fields’ protection despite their willingness. Currently, the

traditional animal-based intensive and meticulous farming system in Xinhua Ziquejie

Terraced region has changed dramatically. According to the survey, the number of

cattle raised by the 183 households of Longpu Village in 2004 was 185; the number

had decreased to only 20 in 210 households in the Village in the year of 2014. In the

absence of policy guidance, local residents prefer high-yielding and labor saving

farming techniques for their livelihoods and short-term economic benefits. For


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example conventional varieties were replaced with hybrid rice varieties with higher

yields and over-reliance on chemical fertilizers, pesticides and other inputs. This

results in gradual loss of interests of the younger generation in the traditional farming

techniques, the intensive and meticulous farming methods, village regulations and

folk conventions. The advanced traditional agriculture of Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces

based on harmonious relationship between man and nature and the intensive and

meticulous farming methods is at risk of loss.

(3) Traditional Culture Influenced by Modern Ways of Living

Modernization gradually changed the lifestyle and patriarchal ways of

organizational management of people living in Ziquejie Terraced region and resulted

in the negative impacts on the inheritance of traditional folk customs and culture. First

of all, the young generation of farmers have lowered sense of identity towards

traditional agriculture and lacked of interests in knowledge and technology of

traditional agriculture. A survey of the “familiar or master” degree of the cultural

heritage elements in Ziquejie Terraced region of the villagers living in the core areas

of Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces was conducted. The recognition rate of village

regulations and folk customs among young people under the age of 40 was only 33%;

in particular, the recognition rate among part-time farmers frequently working outside

and college graduates that return hometown was only 25%. Secondly, with the

accelerated development of Ziquejie tourism resources and the increased contacts and

exposure to the outside world, foreign culture, especially the commercial culture, had

great and growing impacts on local culture. To cater to the taste of tourists or to

satisfy the excessive pursuit of economic benefits, tourism developers adopted some

of the traditional culture techniques that failed to meet the first-class level. Shoddy

cultural products just made for economic means were even produced for sale. In the

past, traditional folk activities and celebrations had specific time and place for

celebration and would be celebrated in the traditional ways with traditional contents.

In order to meet the needs of tourists, traditional folk activities and celebrations had

become the fast-food style culture, which failed to demonstrate its core values.


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Currently, there are not much ancient customs and folklore with distinctive

characteristics of Xinhua Ziquejie Terraced region being left. Nuo Mask Lion Dance

and high-pitched folk songs have been on the verge of extinction. In addition, new

residential constructions that no longer inherit the style of traditional houses

frequently take place. The government released some restrictions on the remodeling

and renovation of folk’s houses and the changes of lifestyles and production patterns

in accordance to the development of tourism in terraced fields. No compensation was

provided for the restriction and most residents failed to share the benefit from

participation in agricultural culture and landscape protection and utilization, it was

difficult for local farmers to develop a continuous enthusiasm for protection and

participation in agricultural heritage without their primary interests.

6.3.2 Strategies to Cope with Challenges

(1) To enhance diversity and stability of ecosystems.

To protect vegetation on the hilltop and prohibit deforestation;

to determine a reasonable proportion of arable and forest lands and strengthen

ecological security of water source forests in terraced fields;

to implement the projects of afforestation to increase forest coverage;

to speed up repairing of serious damaged irrigation and water conservancy

facilities, ridges and ditches on the basis of the protection of original ecological

environment.

to speed up the recovery of abandoned terraced fields and dry lands transformed

from terraced rice paddy fields to ensure maximum cultivation area of terraced paddy

fields under the condition of sufficient water resources.

(2) To enhance the sustainability of traditional agriculture. Develop

ecological agricultural products by taking advantages of the superior natural

ecological conditions. Currently, there are about 10 enterprises and cooperatives

engaging in production of ecological agricultural products and they had already

obtained organic, green, GI product certification and established Ziquejie “Black

Rice”, Ziquejie “Red Rice”, Ziquejie paddy fields-farmed fish and other


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standardization demonstration bases. Ziquejie had become a national cultivation

demonstration bases for ecological and organic rice and its experiences and

experiments had been promoted and applied in the whole county.

(3) Promotion of the inheritance and development of traditional culture.

Throughout the development of the tourism industry and ecological agriculture,

farmers could be encouraged to participate in agricultural heritage protection.

Construction of tourism information network, improvement of the transport network,

upgrading of the existing hotels and restaurants, adjustment of development and

layout of part of the tourist product in heritage sites will together create a tourism

development enriched in regional culture and the agricultural and cultural flavor of

local region. Relationship between the parties shall be straightened out and a clear

division of sectional responsibilities is required in the process. Benefit sharing

mechanisms of agricultural heritage tourism shall be established to encourage the

participation of farmers so as to attract young migrant farmers to return home and

start their own businesses in order to promote the inheritance and development of

traditional agricultural techniques and knowledge.

6.4 Financial Support

6.4.1 Financing Channel

In order to obtain sufficient funds to promote the agricultural heritage protection,

management institutions of the heritage areas and the government must broaden the

sources of funding by establishing multi-channel modes of financing, establishing

Agricultural Heritage Protection Fund as a special fund for the protection of

agricultural heritage. The financed work can be done through the several major

sources listed as follows:

(1) International aid: apply for special funds from GEF through FAO and the

fund will be used to finance the agricultural heritage protection in applicant nations;

apply for financial supports from relevant international organizations for the

protection of agricultural heritage.


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(2) The beautiful countryside construction and new rural construction: to actively

seek funds for construction from related sectors and departments to improve the living

environment in rural areas.

(3) Protection of traditional ancient villages: application of relevant projects for

ancient villages, ancient building renovation or repair to promote the repair of

traditional ancient villages.

(4) Supportive fund for industrial development: through government financial

subsidies and incentives to encourage the development of organic,

environment-friendly products.

(5) Poverty alleviation and development funds: to take effective use of the

national poverty alleviation and development funds to guarantee the right of the poor

to develop.

(6) Social Fund: For example, to encourage the companies and individuals

benefited from the GIAHS to take a portion of their funds and directly invest in

heritage protection.

6.4.2 Utilization of Funds

First of all, it is necessary to appropriately increase the proportion of supporting

funds for major projects, such as the agricultural infrastructure and land management

projects to improve agricultural production conditions; secondly, to increase financial

support for ecological compensation work for ecological environment protection;

again, to ensure reasonable allocation of funds to conferences and forums or other

promotional activities; and finally to ensure adequate funding of scientific research in

order to ensure the smooth progress of scientific research of agricultural heritage.

6.4.3 Supervision and Inspection

In order to ensure the safe, rational and effective use of the funds, relevant

departments shall supervise and inspect the usage and management of funds. The

supervision and inspection mainly consist of the following four aspects: first, to

supervise and inspect the usage and management of fund in major projects during the

year; secondly, to supervise and inspect the construction targets and quality to ensure


100

whether relevant units had carried out their respective responsibilities and the progress

and quality of the projects in accordance with the requirements of liability statement;

thirdly, to supervise and inspect the implementation of corrective measures. Local

governments and relevant departments shall be urged to promptly solve the illegal

violation of major issues that have not been corrected and processed; fourthly, to

supervise and inspect discipline violation cases. Further, in order to ensure the rational

use of funds, ecological environment inspection efforts shall also be enhanced to

ensure the smooth progress of ecological compensation work.

Conservation Project Declaration for GIAHS Ziquejie Terraces, China

101

Reference

[1] Bai Yanying, Min Qing-wen, Liu Moucheng. Implications of Successful

Experience of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage in Foreign Countries for

China[J], World Agriculture, 2014, (6): 78-82.

[2] Duan Xingfeng, Song Wei, Zeng Xun, etc. Preliminary Study of Soil and Water

Conservation Features of Forest Soil in Ziquejie Terraced Fields in Hunan Province[J].

Soil and Water Conservation Research, 2011, 18 (1): 157-160.

[3] Jia Simiao (author, the Northern Wei Dynasty), Liao Qiyu (Translator), Liao

Guilong (translator). Qi Min Yao Shu [M]. Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House,

2006.

[4] Kuang Daren, Qiu Wennong. Characteristics and Impacts of Meishan Cultures[J].

Yiyang Teachers College, 1998, 4: 61-63.

[5] Li Wenhua, Liu Moucheng, Min Qingwen. Agricultural Heritage Protection: A

New Opportunity for the Development of Ecological Agriculture[J]. Chinese Journal

of Eco-Agriculture, 2012, 20 (6): 663-667.

[6] Li Wenhua. “Ecological Agriculture-Theory and Practice of Chinese Sustainable

Agriculture” [M], Chemical Industry Press, 2003.

[7] Li Ximin, Zeng Xun, Luo Zhongshan. Ancient and Beautiful Ziquejie Terraced

Fields[J]. Chinese Soil and Water Conservation, 2013, 3: 1-4.

[8] Li Xinwu. Research of Great Meishan (Book One and Book Two) [M]. Hunan

People’s Publishing House, Changsha, 2014.

[9] Lin Xinwu, Li Xinmin, Li Zhineng. Meishan Chiyou[M]. Hunan Art Publishing

House .2012.

[10] Liu Daorong, Wang Weiguang. Ziquejie Terraced Fields[J]. Xin Xiang

Comments, 2005, (4): 62.

[11] Liu Fandi. “Shan Juan • Chiyou and Wuling” [M], 2003 Hunan University Press.

Liu Yangyang.General History of Hunan[M]. Hunan Publishing House, 1994.

[12] Mao Panyun, Shi Xiaochun, Zhou Tanke. Brief Account on the Cultural Studies

of Meishan 1988-2012[J]. Hunan Institute of Humanities Science and Technology,

2013, 1: 42-50.

[13] Min Qingwen. Globally Important Agricultural Heritage-A New Type of World

Heritage[J]. Resources Science, 2006 (4): 206-208.

[14] Xiao Zengyan. SWOT Analysis on the Application of Ziquejie Terraced Fields in


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Hunan for World Heritage[J]. Geographic Environment Research, 2005, 17 (6):

74-77.

[15] Xie Ping.On the Language Arts of Xinhua Folk Songs in Hunan[J]. Chinese

Music, 2012, 3: 196-197,220.

[16] Xu Zhifang, Nie Fangrong, Zhang Shuofu, et al.Gravity Irrigation System of

Hunan Ziquejie Terraced Fields[J]. China Rural Water and Hydropower, 2006, 4:

73-74, 77.

[17] Zeng Di. Primary Investigation of Yao People’s Relics in Fengjiashan

Mountain[J]. Journal of Loudi Teachers College, 2004, 1:84-87.

[18] Zeng Xiaoping. Analysis of Characteristics of Xinhua Folk Songs[J]. Art

Criticism, 2009, 9: 103-105.

[19] Zhang Changwei, Xu Wensheng, Li Yalong, et al. Water Conservation Capacity

of Litter from Man-made Forests in Ziquejie Terraced Region of Hunan Province[J].

Soil and Water Conservation, 2013, 33 (4): 176-179.

Conservation Project Declaration for GIAHS Ziquejie Terraces, China

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Appendixes

1. Location and Boundary Maps

Figure 1: Location of Hunan Province in China


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Figure 2: Location of Xinhua County in Hunan Province


105

Figure3: Boundary of Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces


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Appendix 2: Agricultural and Associated Biodiversity

1. Agricultural biodiversity

(1) Traditional rice biodiversity

Appendix Table 1. Traditional Rice Varieties in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces

Local Name Local Traditional

Species

Introduced

Traditional Species Main Use

Baisha Glutinous rice √ Make wine and glutinous rice

cake

Yunnong Glutinous

rice √ Make wine and food

No.1 Jing Glutinous

rice √ Make wine and food

MaGu red rice √ Make food

Black tribute rice √ Make goods or food

Black rice √ Make goods or food

Purple scented rice √ Make goods or food

Red rice √ Make goods or food

(2) Other crop biodiversity

Appendix Table 2. Other Crop Varieties in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces

Category Varieties

Cereals and

Grains Finger millet*, Foxtail millet*, Tartary buckwheat*

Peas and beans soybean*, black bean*, rice bean*, mung bean*, broad bean*

Tuber crops Potato*, sweet potato (including purple heart, Guangdong white potato,

pumpkin potato, yellow heart potato etc.)

Oil crops oilseed rape, tea-oil tree, peanut*

Vegetables Cabbage, radish, carrot, celery, squash, pepper, garlic, Onion, leek,

coriander, tomatoes, amaranth, broccoli, lettuce, green bean, eggplant

Melons chestnut, bayberry, grapes, loquat, grapefruit, cherry, watermelon,

muskmelon, pear, peach, plum

Medical plants

Honeysuckle, Officinal Magnolia Bark, Eucommia ulmoides olive, Amur

Grape Stem, Medicinal Evodia Fruit, Cape jasmine, ginkgo, Fragrant

Solomonseal Rhizome, lily, gastrodia elata, pearl barley, Polygonatum,

Rhizoma Belamcandae, platycodon grandiflorum , Gynostemma

pentaphyllum, Atractylis ovata, Rhizoma Coptidis, Indian Buead,

nodakenin, herbaceous peony, chrysanthemum, Heartleaf Houttuynia Herb,

Scrophularia ningpoensis Hemsl, honeysuckle *Traditional species

(3) Livestock biodiversity

Appendix Table 3. Livestock Varieties in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces

Category Varieties Chicken Yellow Hair Chicken, Barred Plymouth Rock chickens, laying hens,

black-bone chicken, dwarf chicken

Duck Shaoxing duck, southern egg-laying duck, Beijing ducks

Pig Landrace pig, Large Yorkshire, Duroc, Xiangxi Black pig, Ningxiang pigs,

DLY (Hybrids of Duroc, Landrace and Large Yorkshire )

Cattle Xiangnan Yellow cattle, Xiangxi Yellow cattle, hybrids of Angus cattle and

local cattle breeds, hybirds of Lee Limousin and local cattle breeds, and


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hybirds of Simmental Beef Cattle and local cattle breeds

Sheep black goats and Boar Goats

(4) Aquatic biodiversity

Appendix Table 4. Aquatic Varieties in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces

Category Scientific Name

Fish

Ctenopharyngodon idellus

Cyprinus carpio

Parabramis pekinensis

Parabramis pekinensis

Mylopharyngodon piceus

Spualiobarbus Curriculus

Culter erythropterus Basilewsl

Erythroculter mongolicus

Erythroculter ilishaeformis

Plagiognathops microlepis

Xenocypris davidi

Magalobrame Tarminalis

Bluntnose black bream

Pseudorasbora parva

Abbottina tungtingensis

Cypriniformes

Carassius auratus

Hypophthalmichthys molitrix

Hypophthalmichthys nobilis

Cobitis taenia

Misgurnus anguillicaudatus

Mastacembelus aculeatus

Pelteobagrus fulvidraco

Crustacean Brachyura

Oophana heudei

Amphibian Bufo bufo gargarizans Cantor

Rana nigromaculata

Mollusk Pheretima

Insect

Araneida

Muscidae

Culicidae

Aquatic plant Spirodela polyrrhiza (L.) Schleid.

2. Associated biodiversity

(1) The main protected plants in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces

Appendix Table 5. List of the main protected plants in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces

Scientific Name Protection Category

1 Ginkgo biloba L. Class I national protected plant

2 Metasequoia glyptostroboides Hu et Cheng Class I national protected plant

3 Taxus chinensis (Pilger) Rehd Class I national protected plant

4 T.mairei (Lemee et Lévl) Cheng et L.K. Fu Class I national protected plant

5 Bretschneidera sinensis Hemsl. Class I national protected plant

6 Pseudolarix amabilis (Nelson) Rehd Class II national protected plant


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7 Emmenopterys henryi Oliv Class II national protected plant

8 Cercidiphyllum japonicum Sieb.et Zucc Class II national protected plant

9 Magnolia officinalis Rehd.et Wils Class II national protected plant

10 M.officinalis ssp. biloba (Rehd. et Wils) Law Class II national protected plant

11 Ormosia henryi Prain Class II national protected plant

12 Cinnamomum camphor (L.) Presl Class II national protected plant

13 Fagopyrum dibotrys (D.Don) Hara Class II national protected plant

14 Torreya grandlis Forstex Lindl Class II national protected plant

15 Fokienia hodginsii (Dunm) Henry et Thomas Class II national protected plant

16 Eucommia ulmides Oliv Class II national protected plant

17 Tapiscia sinensis Oliv Class III national protected plant

18 Pteroceltis tatarinowii Maxim Class III national protected plant

19 Dysosma versipellis (Hance) M.Cheng Class III national protected plant

20 Gastrodia elata Bl Class III national protected plant

21 Michelia fioveolata Merr High ornamental value plant

22 M.platypetala Hand Mazz High ornamental value plant

23 Aesculus wilsonii Rehd High ornamental value plant

24 Temstroemia gymnanthera (Wight et Arn.)

Spragne

High ornamental value plant

25 Schima argentea Pritz High ornamental value plant

26 S.superba gardn et Champ. High ornamental value plant

27 Campsis grandiflora (Thunb. ) Loisel High ornamental value plant

28 Kalopanax septemlobus (Thunb.) Koidz High ornamental value plant

29 Sapindus mukorossi Gaertn Fruet. High ornamental value plant

30 Aibizia julibrissin Durazz. High ornamental value plant

31 A.kalkora (Roxb.) Prain High ornamental value plant

32 GyclobalanopsiS giiva (B1.) Oerst. High ornamental value plant

33 Nyssa sinensis O1iv. High ornamental value plant

34 Sassafras tsumu (Hemsl.) Hemsl High ornamental value plant

35 Dalbergia hupeana Hance High ornamental value plant

36 Decaisnea fargesii Franch. High ornamental value plant

37 Liquidambar formosana Hance High ornamental value plant

38 0smanthus fragrans Lour.var.aurantiacus

Makino


39 Chimonobambusa quadragnulariS (Femzl.)

Makino


40 Phyllostachys nigra (Lodd.) Munro High ornamental value plant


109

41 Lonicera japonica Thunb Important medicinal plant

42 Bletilla striata (Thunb. ) Reichb. f. Important medicinal plant

43 Aristolochia debilis Sieb.et Zucc. Important medicinal plant

44 Polygonum aviculare L. Important medicinal plant

45 Potentilla discolor Bunge Important medicinal plant

46 Rosa lavigata Michx. Important medicinal plant

47 Agrimonia pilosa Ledeb. Important medicinal plant

48 Pueraria lobata (Willd.) Ohwi Important medicinal plant

49 Polygonum cuspidatumSieb.et Zucc. Important medicinal plant

50 Polygonum cyrtonema Hua Important medicinal plant

51 P.officinale All. Important medicinal plant

52 Lilium brownii vat.Viridulum Baker Important medicinal plant

53 Disporun bodinieri (Lavl. et Vant. ) Wang et

Tang

Important medicinal plant

54 Scilla scilloides (Lindl. ) Druce Important medicinal plant

55 Tricyrtis bakeri Koidz Important medicinal plant

56 Smilax glabra Roxb. Important medicinal plant

57 Glechoma lonNtuba (Nakai) Kupr. Important medicinal plant

58 Piper wallichii (Mig.) Hand. 一 Mazz Important medicinal plant

59 Dioscorea bulbifexa L. Important medicinal plant

60 Dendranthema indicum (L.) Des Moul Important medicinal plant

61 Asarum forbesii Maxim. Important medicinal plant

62 A.sieboldii Miq. Important medicinal plant

63 Acorus tatarinowii Schott Important medicinal plant

64 Drynaria fortunei (Kunze) J.Smith Important medicinal plant

65 Coix lacryma-jobi L. Var.ma-yuen (Romanet)

Stopf


66 Peucedanum decursivum (Miq.) Maxim. Important medicinal plant

67 Polygonum multiflorum Thunb Important medicinal plant

68 Gardenia jasminoides E11iS Important medicinal plant

69 Uncaria rhynchophy]la (Miq.) Jacks Important medicinal plant

70 Trichosanthes kirilowliMaxim Important medicinal plant

71 Mahonia fortunei (Lind) Fedde Important medicinal plant

72 Adenophora stricta Miq. Important medicinal plant

73 Trachelospermum jasminoides (Lindl.) Lem. Important medicinal plant

74 Dipsacus japonicus Miq. Important medicinal plant

75 Lindera aggreegata (Sims) Kosterm Important medicinal plant


110

76 Ardisia japonica (Hornsted) B1. Important medicinal plant

77 Va]eriana officinalis L. Important medicinal plant

78 Cyclocarya paliurus (Batal.) Iljinsk. Important medicinal plant

79 Magnolia denudata Desr. Important medicinal plant

80 Saururus chinensis(Laur)Baill. Important medicinal plant

81 Illicium lanceolatum A.C.Smith Important medicinal plant

82 Sarcococca ruscifolia Stapf Important medicinal plant

83 Stachyurus chircensis Franch. Important medicinal plant

84 S.himataicus Hook f.et Arn. Important medicinal plant

85 Lysimachia Paridiformis Franch Important medicinal plant

86 Solanum lyratum Thunb. Important medicinal plant

87 Corydalis decumbens (Thunb.) Pers. Important medicinal plant

88 Astilbe chinensis Franch. etSav. Important medicinal plant

89 Phyllanthus urinaria. L Important medicinal plant

90 Panax pseudo-ginseng Wall. var. japonicus

(C.A.Mey.) Hoo et Tseng


91 Cunninghamia lanceolata (Lamb.) Hook. Main timber forest, economic forest tree

species

92 Pinus massoniana Lamb. Main timber forest, economic forest tree

species

93 Cupressus funebris Endl Main timber forest, economic forest tree

species

94 Toonasinensis (A. Jass) Roem Main timber forest, economic forest tree

species

95 Paulownia fortunei Hemsl Main timber forest, economic forest tree

species

96 Toxicodendron vernicifluum (Stokes) F.A.Barkl Main timber forest, economic forest tree

species

97 Vernia fordii (Hemsl) Airy-Shaw Main timber forest, economic forest tree

species

98 Camellia oleifera Abel Main timber forest, economic forest tree

species

99 Citrus reticulata Blance Main timber forest, economic forest tree

species

100 Txachycarpus fortumei H. Wenall Main timber forest, economic forest tree

species

101 Phyllostachys pubescens Mazelex H. Delehaie Main timber forest, economic forest tree


111

species

(2) The main protected animals in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces

Appendix Table 6. List of the main protected animals in the Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces

Scientific Name Protection Category

1 Neofelis nebulose Griffith Class I national protected animal

2 Python molurus Class I national protected animal

3 Macaca mulatta Zimmermann Class II national protected animal

4 Manis pentadacty la Linnaeus Class II national protected animal

5 Lutra luhtra Linnaeus Class II national protected animal

6 Uiverra zibetha Linnaeus Class II national protected animal

7 Moschus moscehiferus Linnaeus Class II national protected animal

8 Paguma Larvata Hamilton Smith Class II national protected animal

9 Capricornis bumatraensis Bechstein Class II national protected animal

10 Meqalobatrachus danidianus Blanchard Class II national protected animal

11 Rana tigrina rugulosa Wiegmann Class II national protected animal

12 Chrysolophas pictus Linne Class II national protected animal

13 Chrysolophus awcherstice Loadbeeter Class II national protected animal

14 Lophura nycthemera Linnaeus Class II national protected animal

15 Tragopan temminckii Gray Class II national protected animal

16 Vulapes V. hole Class III national protected animal

17 Mustela sibirica davidiana Class III national protected animal

18 Martes f. flavigula Class III national protected animal

19 Hystrix hodgsoni subcristata Class III national protected animal

20 Bambusicola t. thoracica Class III national protected animal

21 Phasianus colchicus torquatus Class III national protected animal

22 Streptopelia O. oientalis Class III national protected animal

23 Leiothrix l. 1utea Class III national protected animal

24 Porzana fusca Linncous Class III national protected animal

25 Ardeola bachus Bonaparte Class III national protected animal

26 Lepus S. sinensis Class III national protected animal

27 Dinodon septentrionalis Guenther Class III national protected animal

28 Lycodon ruhstrati Fischer Class III national protected animal

29 Natrix aequifasciata Barbour Class III national protected animal

30 Netrix stolata Linnaeus Class III national protected animal

31 Opheodrys major Gantor Class III national protected animal

32 Zaocys dhumnades Gantor Class III national protected animal

33 Naja naja Linnaeus Class III national protected animal

34 Trimeresurus mucrosquamatus Class III national protected animal

35 Trimerosurus S. strjnegeri Class III national protected animal

36 Bufo B. gargarizans Class III national protected animal

37 Rana boulenger Class III national protected animal

38 Rana limnochariS Class III national protected animal

39 Rana margnratae Class III national protected animal

40 Rana nigromaculata Class III national protected animal

41 Rana tempoorariachens1nensis Class III national protected animal


112

3: Action Plan

1. Protection of Agriculture Ecosystem

Measures Action Plan Implementing Period

Responsible Departments 2015-2017 2018-2020 2020-2025

Protection of

Biodiversity

Biodiversity survey of terrace and forest systems ●

Forestry Bureau of

Xinhua County

Construction of law enforcement team of ecological protection ●

Forestry Bureau of

Xinhua County

Ecological resources property right registration (cultivated

lands, forest lands and creeks) ● ●

Land and Resources

Bureau of Xinhua County

Strengthen protection of endangered species of wild fauna and

flora ● ● ●

Forestry Bureau of

Xinhua County

Ecological protection

of cultivated lands

Catch of frogs, snakes and fish with electric devices are

prohibited ●

Bureau of Agriculture of

Xinhua County

Promotion of compound ecological agricultural farming and

breeding patterns(duck farming and fish breeding in paddy

fields)

● ●


Xinhua County

Strengthen protection and maintenance of farmland water

system ● ● ●

Water Conservancy


Ecological protection

of forests

Establishing biodiversity archive of forest vegetation ●

Forestry Bureau of

Xinhua County

Register the forest resources property right and clear the

forestry property rights ● ●

Forestry Bureau of

Xinhua County

Establish and divide soil and water conservation forest,

ecological forest and functional forest area, and set up the ● ●


Xinhua County


113

signs

Ecological and

environmental

protection of rural

areas

Strengthen the construction of biogas to improve utilization,

make sure human and animal waste put into biogas digester

and to be converted into clean energy

● ●


Xinhua County

Protection of drinking water sources in rural areas

●

Water Conservancy


Monitoring of

agriculture ecosystem

protection

Establish ecological observatory in core area of heritage site ●


Xinhua County

Establish a flash floods and other geological disasters and

major meteorological disasters monitoring and early warning

system in core area of heritage site

●

Weather Bureau of

Xinhua County

Establish and improve the crop ecological safety monitoring

system, and set up agricultural ecological protection

monitoring liaisons in each village and group

● ● Bureau of Agriculture of

Xinhua County

2. Protection of Agricultural Culture



Filing and

organization of the

materials of traditional

farming knowledge

and skill

Establish special investigation team to widely collect traditional

proverb, traditional poetic couplet, traditional tillage and

cultivation methods and other knowledge and skill of terraced

fields

● ●

Department of Culture,

Radio, Film, TV, Press

and Publication of

Xinhua County

Establish a specialized system of classification and to form

special recording materials of words, images and video recording

materials

● ●

Department

of Culture, Radio, Film,

TV, Press and Publication


114

of Xinhua County

Collection of material

objects of traditional

farming tools

Collect hoe, palladium, windmills, water wheel, squared barrel,

shotguns, beast clip, iron ruler, steel or iron plates used for

engraving orcarving, palladium used in traditional farming

instruments

● ●



and Publication of

Xinhua County

Organization of the

materials of traditional

folk art

Collect and sort related data and literature records of Nuo opera,

Nuo dance, Nuo Mask Lion Dance, traditional festivals,

traditional customs and other traditional folk customs and

traditional arts

● ●

Department

of Culture, Radio, Film,

TV, Press and

Publication of Xinhua

County

To form the corresponding audio, video and other data through

modern digital methods ● ●



and Publication of

Xinhua County

Collection of

traditional food and

drink materials

To understand and document traditional dishes production

methods, processes and recipes of traditional snacks, traditional

tea, traditional drink and wine, etc.

● ●


Radio, Film, TV,

Press and Publication of

Xinhua County

Form the corresponding recording data such as video and photos,

as well as text materials ● ●



and Publication of

Xinhua County

Establishment of

farming culture

museums

Establish traditional knowledge museum of terrace cultivation

and to exhibit and display relevant material objects, video and

photos and other information collected

● ●



and Publication of


115

Xinhua County

Set up specialized personnel and funds safeguard mechanism and

to promote the long-term and effective conduction of the

protection work

● ●



and Publication of

Xinhua County

Establishment of

digital protection

mechanism

Provide digital display and network transmission of traditional

farming knowledge, technology and equipment as well as folk

arts and to establish special research and development and

technical safeguard mechanism to promote the sustainable and

digitalized inheritance of heritage culture

● ●



and Publication of

Xinhua County

Construction of

long-term publicity

and education

mechanism

To set up training mechanism constituted of propaganda and

training mechanism at County, township and village levels and to

carry out the knowledge training of traditional farming

knowledge, farming technique and traditional folk cultural

heritage on a regular basis

● ●



and Publication of

Xinhua County

To Help the general public to learn more about, pay more

attention to and more willing to protect Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces

though seminars, skills training, publicity pictures, literacy

books, legal Q &A concerning protection regulations agricultural

culture, the local rules or regulations quizzes and a variety of

other folk ways and means to strengthen the transmission and

inheritance of traditional farming techniques and farming

knowledge

● ●



and Publication of

Xinhua County

Promotion of the

education of local

Compile and write specialized teaching material about terraced

rice cultivation culture in Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces and to ● ● ●

Education Bureau of

Xinhua County


116

traditional culture establish related cognitive and practical teaching plan in order to

actively carry out the cultural heritage education for primary and

middle school students about traditional agricultural culture of

Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces

3. Protection of Agricultural Landscape

Measures Action Plan Implementing Period Responsible Departments

2015-2017 2018-2020 2020-2025

Protection of forest

vegetation

To protect plants on the top of mountains and to strictly prohibit

deforestation ● ● ●

Forestry Bureau of

Xinhua County

To implement the projects of afforestation to increase the forest

coverage ● ●

Forestry Bureau of

Xinhua County

To increase the energy construction of rural areas in terraced

region to solve the obstacles of ecological protection brought by

the rural livelihoods difficulties

● ●

Forestry Bureau of

Xinhua County

To strengthen the special protection of ancient and famous trees

and to conduct labelling, filing and special care for ancient and

famous trees

●

Forestry Bureau of

Xinhua County

Protection of

irrigation systems

To speed up the repair of seriously damages irrigation and water

conservancy facilities and to repair ridge on the basis of

ecological environment protection

● ●

Water Conservancy


To set up a stable special funds and engineering personnel team

for water conservancy facilities maintenance ● ●

Water Conservancy


To systematically summarize the principles behind the natural

gravity irrigation and its scientific water usage and management

system

● ●

Water Conservancy



117

To conduct training, teaching and learning of knowledge and

skills of young farmers and to restore the traditional water

management personnel system

● ● Water Conservancy


Protection of terrace

landscapes

To speed up the recovery of abandoned terraced fields and dry

lands transformed from paddy fields and to ensure maximized

terraced field areas of rice cultivation under the condition of

sufficient water resources

● ●


Xinhua County

To build a special ecological compensation mechanism for

paddy fields in heritage sites and to establish a special protection

fund of terrace

● ●


Xinhua County

To establish a system of reward to encourage the traditional rice

production and to scientifically design reward standard and

scope of implementation

● ●


Xinhua County

Protection of

traditional villages

To set up a special fund of the protection of traditional folk

houses and to speed up the repair and restoration of traditional

folk houses in heritage sites

● ●

Housing and Construction


Focus on the key repair, maintenance and protective

development of Zhenglong Village as the “Traditional Chinese

Village” and Louxia Village as the “Famous Historical and

Cultural Village in Hunan Province” and to actively carry out

the declaration of Louxia Village as the "national historic and

cultural village"

● ●



and Publication of Xinhua

County

To strengthen management of living environment and the road

repair of rural villages and to improve the level of living garbage

disposal

● ● ● Environmental Protection



118

4. Development of Eco-Agriculture



Survey of traditional

varieties of farming

Survey of traditional rice varieties, coarse grain crop

varieties ●


Xinhua County

Science & Technology


Germplasm repository construction

●


Xinhua County

Science & Technology


Popularization of

traditional farming

technology

To establish technique operation procedures for cultivation

of traditional crops and other rice varieties ●


Xinhua County


Xinhua County

To promote the cultivation of traditional rice varieties in core

reserve areas and to realize the cultivation area of traditional

rice varieties reach 30% by 2017 and more than 50% in 2020

● ●


Xinhua County

Promotion of traditional farming technologies and the

compound farming and breeding technologies such as duck

farming and fish breeding in paddy fields

● ● ● Bureau of Agriculture of

Xinhua County

Ecological agriculture

layout optimization

To set up layout of traditional rice production areas in the

core reserved areas ● ●


Xinhua County

Urban and Rural Planning



119

To optimize layout of high quality rice production base,

high-quality tea plantation base, demonstration base of

Chinese high-yield herbal medicine, small grains production

base, duck, cattle and other ecological breeding and

production base in general reserved areas

● ●


Xinhua County

Urban and Rural Planning


Production and

certification of

ecological products

Establish measures for usage of agricultural and cultural

heritage signs ●


Xinhua County

To conduct certification of pollution-free agricultural

products, green food and organic agricultural products and

geographical indication product certification and to realize

the area of green food production area accounts for 50% of

the core area before 2017, and reach 80% before 2020

● ● ● Related enterprises and

farmers

International organic product certification

● ● Related enterprises and

farmers

Deep processing of

agricultural products

and functional food

development

To foster the development of agricultural products

processing enterprises and the number of agricultural

products processing enterprises in core reserved area is to

reach 12 in the year 2017, and to reach 16 by 2020; and the

farm products processing industry will gradually become the

dominant industry of this region

● ●


Xinhua County

To develop functional foods and to improve scientific and

technological innovation capacity of enterprises ● ●


Xinhua County

Related enterprises

Product promotion and

brand building

Establish a display and sales platform for series of

agricultural products in Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces, such as, ● ●


Xinhua County


120

microblog and Wechat accounts will be set up to develop

agricultural e-commerce

3 to 5 cities annually for the promotion fairs of agricultural

products from Xinhua County and to use media channels like

television, newspapers, radio and other media channels to

enhance publicity

● ● ●


Xinhua County

Commercial Bureau of

Xinhua County

To enhance brand creation and construction and to provide

relevant capital, technological and policy supports for

agricultural enterprises

● ●


Xinhua County

Finance Bureau of Xinhua

County

Cultivation of

traditional agricultural

operators and business

model innovation

To develop farmer households specialized in large scale

production of traditional varieties, family agriculture

(livestock) field and cooperatives

● ●


Xinhua County

Finance Bureau of Xinhua

County

To innovate traditional management mode of agricultural

products, and to strengthen the joint and cooperation of

farmers, to encourage enterprises in the construction of

production base, to give play to the leading role of

enterprises and cooperatives to farmers, and to establish the

benefit sharing mechanism

● ●


Xinhua County

5. Development of Recreational Agriculture



The design of

recreational

To construct the development layout of recreational

agriculture in Xinhua County that constituted with “one ● ●

Travel and Tourism

Administration of Xinhua


121

agriculture tour line center, three zones and six clusters ” County

To form a set of recreational agriculture development systems

integrated agricultural production, cultural experiences,

ecological protection, product processing and leisure

recreation featuring rich types of industries and distinctive

characteristics

● ● ●

Travel and Tourism


County

The design of

recreational

agriculture product

line

To optimize the regional layout and focus on the construction

of ecological agriculture demonstration area, rice culture

demonstration zone, the recreational and health keeping

demonstration zone and creative agriculture park

● ●

Travel and Tourism


County

To use modern science and technology and to display the long

farming culture, farming technology, folk culture, etc. of the

terrace through the use of digital technology

● ●

Travel and Tourism


County

To design development related tourist souvenirs from the

aspects of antique art, folk custom products and agricultural

products with the aim to deliver compact, practical, attractive

products

● ● ●

Travel and Tourism


County and related

enterprises

To design different tourism themes in different seasons, such

as sightseeing, picking, festival participation and spa leisure ● ●

Travel and Tourism


County

To set up promotion and sales sites of agricultural products of

the agricultural cultural heritage sites with unified logo, which

can promote ecological agricultural products as souvenirs

● ●

Travel and Tourism


County

To perfect recreational

agriculture

infrastructure:

To strengthen the construction of roads and improve the road

network ● ●

Travel and Tourism


County


122

To improve sanitation facilities through the rational design of

the public toilets and the construction of some toilet for the

disabled people and setting of dump and garbage collection

point

● ●

Travel and Tourism


County

To strengthen the construction of Xinhua County level tourist

service center and to strengthen the tourism information

service

● ●

Travel and Tourism


County

To design of leisure agriculture culture identification system

that demonstrate the features of recreational agriculture and to

upgrade existing hotels and restaurants so as to improve

tourist reception capacity

● ●

Travel and Tourism


County

To improve the

management

mechanism of

recreational

agriculture

To optimize the governmental functions and clarify the

orientation and functions of related governmental department ● ●

Travel and Tourism


County

To guide the development of tourism enterprises and to give

preferential measures in the capital, talent, market, policy, etc.

to improve the management level and management ability of

tourism enterprises

● ● ●

Travel and Tourism


County and related

enterprises


123

4: Action Plan Related Maps

Figure 4: Location of Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces


124

Figure 5: Function Areas of Xinhua Ziquejie Terraces


125

Figure 6: Protection of Agriculture Ecosystem


126

Figure 7: Protection of Agricultural Culture


127

Figure 8: Protection of Agricultural Landscape


128

Figure 9: Development of Eco-agriculture


129

Figure 10: Development of Recreational Agriculture

annex 3. rice terraces systems in subtropical china-- -- xinhua … · 2018-01-11 · its typical...

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