*3.1. Case Introduction*

The Longji Terraces are located in Longsheng and Guilin, China. They are among the most beautiful terraces in the world, as shown in Figure 1. According to historical records, they were built in the Qin Dynasty, shaped in the Ming Dynasty, and completed in the early Qing Dynasty nearly 2300 years ago. The terraces are charming and beautiful year-round. Ping'an is the central village of the Longji Terraces Scenic Area, towering over the spine of the Terraces. Since 1993, it has been developed for tourism for nearly 29 years and has attracted amounts of tourists. The village is in a subtropical monsoon climate zone with an average annual temperature of approximately 17.1 ◦C, with no heat in summer or cold in winter. The rainy season in Ping'an is from April to August, which accounts for almost 72% of the annual rainfall. This area is well watered, and the exposed hills are mostly sandy rocks, which are mostly dark green.

**Figure 1.** Ping'an village and Longji Terraces (Source: Photo provided by villagers).

The Ping'an village comprises traditional pile-dwelling wooden buildings with typical stilt-style architecture and a "zigzag" stone path running through the entire village. Residents of Ping'an village enjoy glutinous rice, bacon dried fish, and sour bamboo shoots, and they have their own elegant ethnic costumes with strong folklore. In terms of beliefs, there are land gods, thunder gods, frog gods, cows, ancestor worship, and Taoist gods, which are mainly related to the cultivation of terraced agriculture. Presently, the village is still dominated by the original Zhuang ethnic group, and participation in the tourism business has become a major source of income for them, with a total of 108 large and small hotels and dwelling houses, two bars, three Zhuang herbal footbaths, six external operators, and two cafés.

Compared to other ethnic tourist destinations, which rely on folk culture and natural scenery, Ping'an Village is more attractive for its terraced landscape. These terraces come from ancestors who reclaimed the land in front of deep mountains in order to survive. It shows the world the strong will of humanity to survive in nature, the wisdom and strength in understanding nature, and building a homeland.

In addition, the terraced landscape and tourism development in Ping'an village are closely linked to energy sources. As a tourist attraction, the terraces require a high level of water conservation. If construction waste from B&B and tourist waste leads to the contamination of local water sources, this may affect the terraces and ecological sustainability, as well as the sustainability of local water resources and hydropower generation. Traditional pile-dwelling wooden buildings are also posing a safety hazard in terms of fire use, and the development of tourism requires a large amount of energy. Therefore, this village represents a typical case for discussing how ethnic tourism village residents balance tourism development and energy use, which is a concept that needs to be explored in further detail.
