Baishuitai is a beautiful village (also known as White Water Terraces) between Lijiang and Shangri-La County in northwestern Yunnan Province, China. The White Water Terraces of Baishuitai are famous for their natural mineral terraces and are located in the foothills north of Haba, near the upper Yangtze River valley, and southeast of Shangri-la County. Baishuitai is 140 meters from its base to the top and 160 meters in width.
The terraces of Baishuitai are snugly carved into a mountain slope more than 2380 meters above sea level, making Baishuitai the biggest limestone terrace in China. The beautiful terraces, just like waving clouds and white snow, stretch for miles, as clear as crystal, like the spring’s meander, which seems to be frozen on the terraces. The Baishuitai Terrace is a symbol for a growing flower, and the white color represents auspiciousness and sanctity.
The Terraces of Baishuitai is recognized as one of the most eye-catching destinations in mysterious Shangri-La and are an ancient Chinese landform with a history spanning 200,000 to 300,000 years. The spring water from the higher reaches of Haba Snow Mountain reaches down into the uppermost terraced basin, then spills over to the basin below, which it fills up before spilling over to the next basin, and so on and so forth, until the water spills over the outer rim of the last of this set of terraced basins.
Therefore, it is composed of the sediments of high calcium carbonate in the spring waters, which normally flow downward from the mountain to every semicircular-shaped limestone step. Over the many centuries, it has resulted in making natural terraces look like white marbles. Moreover, the basins themselves have been hollowed out over time by the erosive action of the acidic water, which in earlier times, drew out certain minerals from the limestone, creating weak carbonic acid.
Further, Baishuitai is also the birthplace of the Dongba culture & values of the Naxi Minority Group. One of their saints of the Dongba religion was attracted by the captivating scenery of this place on his way back from Tibet. He decided to stop them and, in full swing, spread his beliefs. So fallacies prevail among peoples, and they consider Baishui Water Terraces a shrine. Since then, every year, on the eighth day of the second lunar month (8 February),.
The Naxi people will gather here to celebrate their traditional festival by dancing and singing all day and night. The people slaughter chickens to make the festival end by smearing chicken blood on the branches around Baishuitai Water Terraces to show their affection & love. A difficult mountain road leads to Baishuitai, an almost three-hour drive from Shangri-la. In fact, the Terraces of Baishuitai is a stunning, scenic, peaceful, and worthwhile place. This is perfect place for photography, so all photographers can take some majestic clicks here.
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