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White Water Terrace
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White Water Terrace is located at Sanba,
101 kilometers south of the county seat of Zhongdian. Situated
on a mountain slope 2,380 meters (about 7,806 feet) above
sea level, Baishui Terrace, 140 meters (about 459 feet)
in length and 160 meters (about 525 feet) in width, is one
of the biggest such terraces in China.
It is a spectacular karst terrain formed by sediment of
calcium carbonate in the spring water. The top of the terrace
features a semicircular platform pool, and spring water
rises from the mountaintop and flows downward. Over many
eons, calcium carbonate crystals contained in the streamwater
have accumulated wherever the stream flows. As a result,
the natural terraces look as though they are made of white
marble - as if a silver waterfall tumbles through the green
mountains. The spring water reaches the rim of one shallow
basin and silently trickles into another, leaving exquisitely
patterned tracks. Local people also call the terrace the
"Paddy Fields created by the Fairies."
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The Baishui Terraces (baishui tai) are
the cradle of the Dongba culture of the Naxi people. It
is said that the founding father of Dongba culture settled
here to spread his beliefs on his way back from Tibet. On
the eighth day of the second month of the lunar calendar,
that is, the day when the founding father held his founding
ceremony, people of various groups congregate round the
terrace, singing and dancing and slaughtering chickens to
pay tribute. Tourists are invited to participate in this
folk holiday while enjoying the wonderful landscape of Baishui
Terrace.
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