Tradition on the terraces

A contestant leads a race to climb up the Jiabang terraced fields in Congjiang, Guizhou province, on April 19. LUO JINGLAI/FOR CHINA DAILY

Villagers in festive dress filled the terraced fields of Congjiang county, Guizhou province, on Sunday, to mark the start of the rice-planting season.

Kaiyang Festival is a centuries-old rite that marks the beginning of spring planting in southern China.

During this year's ceremony in Jiabang, villagers from local Miao communities carried flags into the fields, while village elders offered wine, meat and incense, and led prayers for good weather and a bountiful harvest.

People strain to sprint through muddy earth during a race to climb up the Jiabang terraced fields on April 19. WU DEJUN/FOR CHINA DAILY

"The rice-planting season begins!" the village head shouted, signaling villagers to start sowing and raising rice seedlings.

Jiabang is known for some of China's most picturesque terraced landscapes. Surrounded by high mountains, steep slopes and deep valleys, its rice paddies curve with the land and weave through Miao villages scattered across the hillsides.

The rugged terrain means each terrace is usually no larger than about one mu, or one-fifteenth of a hectare. Many plots are so small that they are said to hold only one or two rows of rice, prompting locals to joke that "even a frog can jump across three fields".

Tourists and villagers enjoy a special "long-table feast" to celebrate the Kaiyang Festival in Congjiang on April 19. WU DEJUN/FOR CHINA DAILY

In recent years, the opening-of-the-season event has expanded beyond the traditional ritual to include farming culture exhibitions, ethnic costume parades and terraced field climbing contests, drawing visitors from across China.

This year's event featured demonstrations of traditional farming techniques, including ox plowing and boat-shaped plowing tools, as well as a display of the rice-fish-duck farming system, offering a glimpse into agricultural practices preserved here for centuries.

Visitors watched the ritual up close and joined rice transplanting and other hands-on farming experiences.

In the terraced field climbing race, visitors and villagers started at the foot of the mountain and raced to a finish line halfway up the slope. Other activities included fish catching, goose lassoing and blindfolded pig catching, with laughter echoing across the fields.

A Miao performer puts on a folk show for tourists in Biasha Miao stockade village of Congjiang on April 18. LUO JINGLAI/FOR CHINA DAILY