BEIJING, July 12 -- Few of the thousands of tourists to Longsheng County of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region would realize that their presence is actually endangering the magnificent landscape of terraced fields they enjoy. With a population of 167,000, of whom nearly 80 percent are ethnic minorities of Miao, Yao, Dong and Zhuang, Longsheng received 235,000 sightseers in 2006, according to Yang Tongming, head of the county.
"In May this year, the Dragon Backbone alone - the core area of the 700-year-old terraced fields - drew 50,000 visitors, including 10,000 from overseas," he says.
Tourism indeed has contributed much to the county's revenue, Yang says. Longsheng's tourism earnings had jumped from 234,100 yuan ($30,864) in 1999 to over 11 million yuan ($1.45 million) in 2006, accounting for nearly 10 percent of the county's total revenue.
Meanwhile, the family inns run by local farmers within the Dragon Backbone area frog-leaped from three with 45 beds in 1992 to the current 112 with more than 3,000 beds, providing handsome earnings to the locals, Yang says.
Extending in layers carved on hillside at elevation between 300 and 1,100 meters above sea level, the Longsheng terraced fields got its fame first among photography fans in the early 1990s. "The distinct and smooth lines of the Longsheng terraced fields are particularly fascinating to scenic image capturers," observes Lu Zhou, a professor of ancient architecture at Qinghua University.
In comparison, the terraced fields created by the Hani people in Honghe, Yunnan Province could overshadow their counterparts in Longsheng in terms of history, farming skills, sizable stretches and aesthetic effect, Lu says.
Yet there is one thing the Hani terraced fields cannot match: accessibility. While the Hani fields are hidden deep in the Ailao Mountains and the journey to the place is an exhausting drive of a whole day, Longsheng is within easy reach of 78 kilometers northwest of Guilin, a leading tourist attraction in Guangxi.
However, says Ben Huangwen, deputy head of Longsheng County, this very advantage might be what has caused the damage to the famous terraced fields.
The easy access brings flows of tourists, many of whom stay overnight to wait for better photographic opportunities. That has resulted in a water shortage, says Ben.
"The water consumption has multiplied as tourists are several times the local population," he says. The core area of six villages has a total population of 7,800, while the tourists expected this year number 300,000. "Hence the contention of human consumption of water with the irrigation."
To satisfy this consumption of water, the locals have to compromise what is used for irrigation. "The terraced paddy fields used to be inundated with water all year round," says Ben. "Now the farmers won't flood the fields until the transplanting season so as to save the water."
That means half a year the fields are dry. And the dry land leads to the collapse of the fields.
After an investigation of the terraced fields, Duan Xiangfeng, an engineer with the Guangxi Planning Academy of Land Resources who has made four trips to the six villages, noted down 577 sites of collapse involving more than 25 hectares.
There are two reservoirs near the Dragon Backbone, says Duan, but they cannot provide adequate help. "They are long out of repair and suffer serious leakage, with one third of the designed capacity of water conservancy leaking away," she says.
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