The disappearance of YY terraced fields, a photo from Yunnan, South

Photographer's Note

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The coming disappearance of
Yuanyang terraced fields

This is one of the pictures I took during our last sunset in Yuanyang before leaving the next mid-day.

When we left YY on Feb 28, Steve decided to stay. He then traveled to Kunming and flew to Bangkok. The following week, he returned to Yuanyang for the third time. A few hours ago, he emailed us some bad news from South Korea:

“So, right now I am in Korea, I arrived here on Sunday. As I said on TE yesterday, I spent the last 3 weeks of my vacation in Sapa and also 3-4 days in Yuanyang. Yuanyang was ok but just so hazy that it was very hard to get any decent photos of anything over 200 meters away. I will always miss the beautiful scenery in Yuanyang, but I won’t miss the food! The whole three days I spent there recently I was thinking, 'I can’t wait to get back to Sapa to have a good meal!' ;)

While I was there I visited the NGO World Vision that does some work there. They told me that UNESCO has been to Yuanyang 3 times but ultimately rejected heritage status, not sure why though. They also told me that the fields in the valleys of Yuanyang might become threatened by banana farming. It seems that many rice farmers in the area are getting turned on to planting banana trees since they require little work and upkeep and yield an easily sellable crop. Hope that never comes to pass, the world truly would lose something special — this is not just Chinese/Hani heritage but I believe it’s world heritage now. Its something unique and special and it would be a shame if we were to lose it to commercial enterprise.”

We don’t think Steve is joking. If you take his statement seriously, you may want to consider a visit to YY before its terraced fields disappear, for ever.

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ViktorVaughn, Floydian, TRASH, PSYOPS, Richard1, pnphan, Valeski, SebastianSeng heeft deze opmerking als nuttig gemarkeerd

Critiques | Translate

marjan (7) 2007-04-17 5:45

hi Thanh, very nice soht with good composition and nice coloures.
Majran

carmia (5482) 2007-04-17 5:50

What a nice shot. Good details!
i like the colours and composition
well done. Carme.

jslee (3988) 2007-04-17 6:06

Beautiful shot!
I am also planning on going to this place in February next year. Many photographer make great photos at this place and I think this is one of the best ones.
JS Lee

Uzi (1240) 2007-04-17 6:19

incredible gold pattern..
with those two poeple you achived impreasasion of magic in everyday situations
well done
cheers
Iza

ViktorVaughn (1525) 2007-04-17 7:20

What amazing colours. This is just an amazing locale, and I can't believe it was declined by UNESCO (I wasn't aware of this, great note too btw). Maybe I shall try and head there sooner than later, from photos, Yuanyang looks more impressive than the famous rice fields in the Phillipines...

Capturing those two people is the perfect element for this photo. TFS!!!

Floydian (30970) 2007-04-17 8:28

Hi Thanh,
A classic scenery, but everytime i see these kind of pictures i fully enjoy them.
The composition lines, light and two people makes this one a really good one.
Truly perfect work...great shot..!!!
Regards, Henk

jcdurka1 (1950) 2007-04-17 9:12

It's a great result, in which colors, composition, lines and human's detail have been mixed very well.
Regards,
Jean-Claude

TRASH (0) 2007-04-17 12:27

This is one of the best photographic achievement from Yuanyang.
Congratulations!

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*PS: I am shocked at the info by Steve regarding "banana conversion". Don’t give up your promotion. UNESCO will return and re-evaluate ;)

PSYOPS (0) 2007-04-17 17:53

You have been here at the right time and the right PoV.
The soft light blending to the entire picture makes me think that you have shot at a very late hour of the day. Weren't you?
Looking back into the gallery from your recent trip to this same location, I can tell the difference. To me, thsi time you have placed many factors under good control.
Congratulations!

GJ

Flamboyant (0) 2007-04-17 20:06

Absolutely fantastic and exotic.
Marvelous landscape well shown on this capture.
Breath-taking POV.
I wish to actually see this scene by my eyes.
Thank you. Please keep posting.
Regards,
PVy

Andre-H (1271) 2007-04-18 2:41

Hi Thanh,

What can I say? Another great pic. The golden colours are fabulous, and the people look so small in the landscape that it seems as though they are treading through a land of giants. I'm going back to Yuan Yang for a week in a few days, so hopefully I'll be getting back into updating your theme.

Cheers,

A

Richard1 (0) 2007-04-19 8:07

How unfortunate it has become for man, to find that he has given way to beauty and deep rooted culture for wealth. Society's constant push and desire for the almighty dollar has, for many, replaced the real reason of why man is on this planet. We have cast off our respect for our planet and, most important of all, our brotherhood with our fellow man. Everyday we hear of the evils of man, it saddens my heart.
I want to thank you, Thanh, for allow me to view your photographs over the years and showing me the beauty of other lands. Your last visit to your homeland has proven that you are a right and just individual. You and your family are in my prayers.

God Bless,
Rick

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Valeski (906) 2007-06-06 13:39

A wonderfull composition for the terraces.. So good light and ambiance...
Thanx!
Ciao
Vale

grandklaus (423) 2007-08-05 2:24

your pictures of yuanyang terraces are fantastic esthetically and i hope your shots will help to make them to be known by lots of people ,might this help to save them from a crazy agricultural planification
thank you for your action
Jean Francois

SebastianSeng (354) 2008-04-21 13:31

Walking in fields of gold, the scene, the lines and sense of scale are all wonderfully captued. Lovely work as usual Thanh.

Photo Information

Copyright: Ngy Thanh (ngythanh) (8458)
Genre: Plaatsen
Medium: Kleur
Date Taken: 2007-02-27
Categories: Dagelijks leven, Natuur
Camera: Canon EOS 20D, Canon EF 70-200 F4 L, SanDisk Ultra II 2Gg
Belichting: f/6.3, 1/250 Seconden
Details: Tripod: Yes
More Photo Info: view
Fotoversie: Originele versie
Thema's: Yuanyang for UNESCO World Heritage /1/, Nature's textures [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2007-04-17 5:41
Favorieten: 2 [Zicht]