On 22 June 2013, the Hani Terraces of Yunnan's Yuanyang County was inscribed into the World Cultural Heritage List (of the UNESCO) at the 37th Session of the World Heritage Committee--which was convened in Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh during 16-27 June 2013.

Hani Terraces are located at Yuanyang County in Honghe Prefecture, Yunnan Province. As a property of cultural landscape, it is comprised of the forest at the hilltop, the stockaded villages below the forest, the terraced fields below the villages and the Honghe water system below the terraced fields. The reservation zone of Honghe Hani Terraced Fields Property covers 13,190 ha. and has a buffer zone of 14,810 ha. It has formed a very spectacular traditional farming landscape featuring amazing rice culture. 

Honghe Hani Terraced Fields Property is comprised of two systems:

(1)-The first one is the unique and integrated ecological system which comprises the forests on the hilltop, the terraced fields and villages on the hillsides, and the water system at the foot of the hills. The forests on the hilltops conserve the water resources. Making use of the water resources conserved by the forest on the hilltops the terraced fields on the hillsides have formed vast artificial everglade while producing rice and aquatic animals and plants co-existed with these water-filled paddy fields to meet the basic needs of hundreds of thousands of Hani people and other ethnic groups.

Over quite a long period of time the local people has cultivated a great number of rice species in their farming activities. The total number of different species once was up to a thousand and today even after the introduction of hybrid rice local people is still cultivating tens of different traditional rice species, which is of great significance for rice culture and food security.

(2)-The second system is the ethnic cultural system which comprises tangible cultural heritages including the villages, dwellings and buildings for production, the protector woods of the villages, irrigation works and road sign steles, etc., and intangible cultural heritages such as the traditional production and life styles, traditional custom and fete activities, and knowledge systems passed down orally (for instance: the Song of Four Seasons), etc.

According to the Hani legend and the "Water Dividing Stone" which has been conserved by 45 generations in succession and is now preserved at "Quanfu Zhuang" the history and development of the terraced fields of the heritage site might be traced back to the Tang Dynasty when the ancient Hani people started to settle down in the heritage site and build terraced fields to start agricultural activities. Records on agriculture in the heritage site has been found in the section on "Products from the Jurisdiction of Yunnan" in the Book on Southern Ethnic Groups (Manshu) written by Fan Chao of the Tang Dynasty. In the Ming Dynasty, Xu Guangqi put forward the concept of "terraced fields" in the Complete Treatise on Agriculture and gave a very detailed description on the terraced fields in remote mountains. After 1840 though the Chinese society has undergone great changes, the outside world has had little influence on the heritage site and industrialization has had little impact here as it is located in a very remote place. Traditional production and life styles have been preserved over a long time in the heritage site.

The site is protected by the laws of the People's Republic of China among which are the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Cultural Relics, Environmental Protection Law of the People's Republic of China, etc. It is also subject to the jurisdiction of the system and administrative regulations of Yunnan Province in force. In particular, the Provisional Measures on Administration of Honghe Hani Terraced Fields of Honghe Hani & Yi Autonomous Prefecture promulgated in October, 2001 and the (Overall) Plan for the Preservation and Development of Honghe Hani Terraced Fields are of great significance for the protection of Honghe Hani Terraced Fields.