12 VOLT WATER PUMPS SALE

Yuanyang, Yunnan, China.

The rice terraces built by the Hani nationality in Yuanyang County are a little known scenic wonder in South-West China's Yunnan province. Dropping from near the summits of the 2500 metre Ailao Mountain Range to the deep cleft of the Red River, they are among the world's most spectacular and extensive terraces. Were they in a more accessible part of China these terraces would already have been heavily developed for tourism, and no doubt lost much of their appeal. Perhaps then it is a blessing in disguise that by accident of modern geography they lie in Yunnan, a province so abundant in natural beauty and diverse scenery that these rice terraces have so far been overlooked. Though it's beauty has graced many a Chinese coffee table book, the area didn't even make it into the China-wide Lonely Planet's section on Yunnan.

Unlike many remote areas though, once you actually get there information is not so hard to come by. An NGO called "World Vision" has been based in Yuanyang Old Town for several years. As well as running a great little coffee shop, it sets up fair-trade co-operatives for ethnic arts and crafts, trains villagers in basic English so they can work as mountain guides, lobbies for UNESCO status, and generally tries to set up a sustainable tourism network in the area, one that actually benefits the local minority groups as opposed to Han business and political circles in Kunming or beyond.

I spoke with the main organiser of the project in Yuanyang and he told me of the difficulties they face. The NGO's work is done under the perennial threat of the locals they are trying to help deciding to down their tools and leaving for the city, often defaulting on micro-credit loans. There is also the threat of the provincial government finally deciding to pump cash and concrete into the area in the form of huge tourist resorts, or the threat of a change in local politics meaning their presence is no longer welcome in that county. Perhaps most of all, there is the danger that that they may wake up one morning and realise that everything they are trying to achieve may ultimately be futile.

The rice terraces built by the Hani nationality in Yuanyang County are a little known scenic wonder in South-West China's Yunnan province. Dropping from near the summits of the 2500 metre Ailao Mountain Range to the deep cleft of the Red River, they are among the world's most spectacular and extensive terraces. Were they in a more accessible part of China these terraces would already have been heavily developed for tourism, and no doubt lost much of their appeal. Perhaps then it is a blessing in disguise that by accident of modern geography they lie in Yunnan, a province so abundant in natural beauty and diverse scenery that these rice terraces have so far been overlooked to a certain extent. They didn't even make it into the Lonely Planet's section on Yunnan.

Unlike many remote areas though, once you actually get there information is not so hard to come by. An NGO called "World Vision" has been based in Yuanyang Old Town for several years. As well as running a great little coffee shop, it sets up fair-trade co-operatives for ethnic arts and crafts, trains villagers in basic English so they can work as mountain guides, lobbies for UNESCO status, and generally tries to set up a sustainable tourism network in the area, one that actually benefits the local minority groups as opposed to Han business and political circles in Kunming or beyond.

I spoke with the main organiser of the project in Yuanyang and he told me of the difficulties they face. The NGO's work is done under the perennial threat of the locals they are trying to help deciding to down their tools and leaving for the city, often defaulting on micro-credit loans. There is also the threat of the provincial government finally deciding to pump cash and concrete into the area in the form of huge tourist resorts, or the threat of a change in local politics meaning their presence is no longer welcome in that county. In such circumstances, perhaps the greatest danger is that they wake up one morning and realise they have lost belief in their own ability to make a difference.

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