The Yuanyang Rice Terraced Fields are located south of Ailao Mountain in Yuanyang County, Yunnan Province, China. They're at the core area of the Honghe Hani Terraced Fields, stretching for more than 166 square kilometres, and a wonder of terraced farming civilisation created by generations of Hani people using the steep hills of the unique geographical conditions. The villages within the Yuanyang Terraces bear witness to this long history.
Under the background of rapid urbanisation and tourism development in China, the rice terraces' beautiful scenery and unique culture have gradually attracted many tourists. However, these traditional villages are not prepared for tourism development. Unfortunately, many villagers give up the conventional way of life. However, modernisation is at the cost of destroying historic buildings and their culture and the activities of tourists contribute to destroying their living environment.
Furthermore, the region is affected by rapid climate change, causing a shortage of water resources, making the situation worse for the villages. Lower rainfall means less water for irrigation, which leads to a decrease in the rice yield, affecting the farmers' income. The gradual disappearance of the paddy fields also means the disappearance of the thousand-year-old terrace culture and landscape. Traditional farming cannot provide villagers with the economic source to survive in modern society.
To reactivate the traditional villages, many things need to be considered: how to make the Yuanyang terraces ecologically sustainable and appropriately introduce modern technology and rural tourism into the farming civilisation and improve villagers' living standards.
The project takes Azheke Village, one of the most intact traditional villages, as an example to illustrate the possibilities of coping with the dilemmas of tradition versus modernisation, the climate crises and increasing tourism by design solutions. The design discusses the economic, ecological, and cultural development of Azheke Village by introducing a research station to experiment with new crops, which might increase the farmers' income. In terms of ecology, the problem of water and energy shortages is solved by building reservoirs and using renewable energy. In terms of culture, landscape elements such as forests, canals, terraces, rivers, buildings, roads, crops, etc., are enhanced to strengthen the landscape narrative potential of the site and emphasise its cultural value. In terms of economy, inhabitants' income could be increased by selling tickets, planting new cash crops, and selling agricultural products. The sustainable ecological environment and unique human landscape could make Azheke Village more competitive in terms of eco-tourism. This design therefore can bring new ecological, social, and economic values to the Azheke Village, which help the villagers to stay and be proud on their landscape.