This guide will help you explore Samaba, a hidden gem in Yunnan’s Honghe UNESCO World Heritage Site. Here, ancient traditions blend with breathtaking landscapes untouched by mass tourism.
A few years ago, I wrote a detailed DIY travel guide to the Yuanyang Rice Terraces (Unesco World Heritage Site), one of my all-time favourite areas in Yunnan. When I first wrote the article, the area was already very popular, but not as touristy as it is now.
Many people asked me to recommend a less popular route, so I checked Samaba, another part of the UNESCO Heritage Site area in the Honghe prefecture, which doesn’t get nearly as many tourists.
Samaba boasts the world’s largest and some of the oldest rice terraces. I read somewhere that these “terraces aren’t just agricultural marvels, but a living calendar, reflecting seasonal shifts in water, light, and crop cycles“. It’s actually true that they change with the seasons and offer incredible photographic opportunities most of the year.
When is the best time to visit Samaba (撒玛坝梯田)?
Like Yuanyang, the best time is when the terraces are filled with water. This usually happens from November until the end of April. After April, the rice grows, and the terraces lose that beautiful mirror-like effect.
The second-best time is right before the harvest season, around September. Around that time, you’ll find a beautiful golden colour perfect for sunset pictures.
I don’t recommend going in August because it usually rains a lot.
How to get to Samaba
There are three main ways to get to Samaba.
- By car from Kunming: a shared or private car usually takes about 4,5 hours and is the easiest option if you don’t want to waste time figuring out which bus to take and when. If you opt for the shared car, it is not that expensive either. The shared cars usually leave from the area near the South Bus Station. Send me a message on Instagram if you need help finding a driver.
- By train: there are a few trains leaving from both Kunming train stations. If you are not interested in visiting Jiangshui (which has a nice but touristy Ancient Town), the arrival station is Yuanjiang (元江). Otherwise, you can take a train to Jiangshui (建水). Then you’ll have to take a bus or a shared minivan from the train station (whichever one you arrive at) to your hotel. The terraces are about 2 hours from the Jiangshui and Yuanjiang train stations.
- By bus from Kunming: take a bus from the East Kunming Bus Station to Yuanjiang and then take a minivan or a private car to your hotel, about two hours from the bus station.
Where to stay in Samaba
There are two main areas where you can stay. The Suhong (苏红) village is ideal for watching the sunrise, as it faces east toward the terraces.
The opposite side, and arguably the best one, is in the village of Shitouzhai (甲寅乡石头寨), the perfect spot for the sunset. Although the horizontal distance between the two villages is only about 6 km, it takes 50 minutes to drive between them.
I stayed at the amazing VineTree Glamping Site near Shitouzhai. As you can see in the picture, this campsite is incredible and has a perfect sunset view. I’ve previously stayed at another of their sites in Pingbian (near Vietnam), and I was familiar with the quality of their tents. Still, this site is unique, thanks to its perfect location. It’s a bit pricey, but worth it in my opinion.
The great thing about this glamping site is that the staff are locals from the Hani minority, and they grow most of the food you’ll eat on-site. They also offer a trekking tour around the terraces, where you’ll see how the Hani people have ingeniously shaped the landscape over centuries, creating a breathtaking mosaic of rice paddies that follow the contours of the mountains.
If you want to find something cheaper, as always, I recommend checking Trip.com. Look for this location: Honghe County, 甲寅乡. This guesthouse, for example, is quite nice.
What to see in Samaba
This area is one of the last in China where you can still witness a very traditional, almost gone, way of living. People have a strong connection to the land they have lived on for thousands of years, and don’t use machines to work the rice paddies.
If you walk on the terraces, you’ll have many amazing photographic opportunities and certainly come across some amazing scenes, especially if you pick the right season.
Like in similar areas in China, sunrises offer the best chance to capture stunning shots of the rice fields with a sea of clouds in the foreground, especially in winter and early spring.
I recommend using a drone because there are no elevated platforms from which to photograph the landscape. If you want to use a drone in China, you can use this service to register it.
If you have the possibility to move around, these are the main viewing platforms: Yangliu (杨柳梯田观景台), from which you can enjoy a panoramic view of the terraces in the Suhong area, and Memipushi (么咪普士-山岳神雕), which offers a closer view of the terraces and is located along the road connecting Suhong to Vinetree Glamping.
Samaba vs Yuanyang
Yuanyang and Samaba are similar in some ways but completely different in others. They are similar in that they offer the same terraced-field scenery, to the point that, unless you have travelled there extensively, you probably won’t know which is which just by looking at the pictures.
The major difference is that Samaba is so far untouched by tourists. In fact, when I visited the area, I was the only one: this won’t happen often in China. Remember that these are among the largest rice terraces in the world, so they should at least attract a few people.
This area is not popular, probably due to a lack of hotels and the local Honghe government prioritising the Yuanyang area. This means that all the marketing material you’ll find about the rice terraces in Yunnan points to Yuanyang. You can see this also in the way the tourist infrastructure is maintained, or rather, not maintained. For example, there’s a wooden walkway built over the terraces that is essentially abandoned and quite dangerous.
Samaba is quite off the beaten path, even for locals in Yunnan. I couldn’t believe it, but none of my local friends had ever heard of the place.
Yuanyang offers more photographic options, with many viewpoints ideal for sunrise and sunset, and many renovated villages that make the area very diverse.
Samaba is less diverse, but you’ll definitely be among the few tourists there. The main drawbacks of Samaba are its inconvenient location and the lack of activities. I recommend Samaba if you plan to stay at Vinetree Glamping and have perhaps already visited Yuanyang. If it’s your first visit and you have limited time, then stick to Yuanyang.
Final considerations
Samaba was a beautiful surprise for me. Despite having lived and travelled extensively in the province for many years, I had never heard of this area. I was happy to have finally found a beautiful place that hasn’t been turned into a “Disneyland” park, and it seems somehow disconnected from the rest of the country.
Staying at the VineTree Glamping Site was absolutely incredible. The pricing is quite high, but if you want to end your trip in Yunnan in an amazing location immersed in nature, this is the perfect option.
If you want to visit another little-known area in Yunnan, don’t miss this article. If you’re looking for another less touristy area, don’t miss my guide to Western Yunnan.
As always, get a VPN before travelling to China (this one works well). If you want to use an eSim, I recommend this one. Here are more pictures I took in Samaba.
