As the paddy fields gradually turn golden, an international event focusing on the preservation of global agricultural cultural heritage is set to begin. According to the organizer, the 2026 "From Ziquejie Terraces to the World" — the 4th Global Farming Culture Exchange and Mutual Learning Conference & the 10th Conference of the East Asia Research Association for Agricultural Heritage Systems will take place from September 19 to 21 in Xinhua County, Loudi City, Hunan Province.

Under the theme of "Technology Empowers Agricultural Heritage, Youth Create the Future Together," this year's conference adopts a "2+2+5" model. It features two main events - the opening ceremony and keynote speeches, and the conference report and closing ceremony; two supporting activities - parallel forums and on-site observation; and five special activities - the "Treasures of Youxi Township" agricultural innovation market, the "Night of Zhenglong Village" immersive cultural experiences, the "Pinnacle of Martial Spirit" Meishan martial arts festival, the "Rendezvous of Mountains and Seas" Xinhua inbound tourism inspection and promotion event, and the "Eyes of the World" overseas Chinese media field tour. The activities will fully showcase the unique charm of Ziquejie which was included in the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) and the list of World Heritage Irrigation Structures (WHIS). 

The conference brings together the diplomatic envoy of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, top-tier experts and scholars in the field of agricultural heritage from home and abroad, representatives from East Asian agricultural heritage sites, travel agents, and enterprises. Multiple parallel forums will highlight in-depth dialogues on eight frontier topics, including heritage site management innovation, digital intelligence empowering farming, sustainable tourism in agricultural landscapes, coordinated terrace protection, and youth innovation, building consensus on East Asian agricultural heritage protection, exploring replicable and scalable practical pathways, and promoting the establishment of a long-term mechanism for coordinated protection of East Asian agricultural heritage. During the on-site observation segment, participating guests will visit the exhibition hall of GIAHS and WHIS, Yueya Mountain Viewing Platform, and Zhenglong Village to immerse themselves in the vivid practice of protecting and revitalizing the thousand-year-old terraces.

The serial special activities offer a series of highlights:

- The "Treasures of Youxi Township" agricultural innovation market brings together specialty agricultural products, intangible cultural heritage handicrafts, and rural cultural and creative products to create a new rural consumption scene.

- The "Night of Zhenglong Village" combines the Nine-bend Dragon Soiree Feast, folk song and intangible cultural heritage performances, and starlit dialogue to create a collaborative cultural exchange scene for Chinese and foreign guests.

- The "Pinnacle of Martial Spirit" Meishan martial arts festival integrates Meishan martial arts competitions, an intangible cultural heritage market, and a thousand-person flash mob to unlock a new "culture + sports + tourism" experience.

- The "Rendezvous of Mountains and Seas" Xinhua inbound tourism inspection and promotion event invites travel agents to inspect Xinhua's premium tourism routes on-site, releasing supportive policies for inbound tourism and helping expand international tourist sources.

- The "Eyes of the World" overseas Chinese media field tour leverages overseas communication networks to spread the farming wisdom of Ziquejie globally.

The Ziquejie Terraced Fields, which originated in the Qin (221–207 BC) and Han dynasties (202 BC–220 AD) and flourished in the Song (960–1279) and Ming (1368–1644) dynasties, are the fruits of labor of ancestors from multiple ethnic groups including Han, Miao, and Yao. The Ziquejie Terraced Fields were among the first batch of sites added to the WHIS list in 2014 and recognized as a GIAHS site in 2018. There are no mountain ponds or reservoirs here, nor any artificial water diversion systems. Tens of thousands of mu (per mu equals about 0.067 hectares) of terraced fields rely entirely on natural gravity irrigation, truly deserving the title of "a miracle of the world's water conservancy and irrigation engineering."

This article is from Hunan Provincial Government. www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Translator: Xiao Juan

Chinese source: Voice of Hunan