Technology, tourism freeze time on Hani's amazing rice terraces

From the camera lenses of tourists, the Hani rice terraces in Yunnan province are an idyllic emblem of traditional Chinese agriculture: vast expanses of mountain slopes carved into water-submerged paddies where rice, fish and ducks flourish in co-existence.

A closer look reveals its low-profile modernity: on the verge of some fields stands an apparatus the shape of a solar panel, which collects information on the ecosystem for online monitoring and diagnosis.

Lu Zhengxue, who owns one terraced field in Yuanyang county, Honghe Hani and Yi autonomous prefecture, is glad the millenniumold landscape is preserved thanks to the modern technology that helps make the rice terraces not just a tourist demonstration but a lucrative business.