(Beijing Today)
Updated: 2008-03-25 16:11

With spring on the way and temperatures climbing, now is the time to get out and see flowers. Southern China has several areas famous for canola flowers, but the ice storms of Spring Festival have pushed the blooming season back to April. From now to the start of next month, is the best time to see the golden flowers: Luoping in Yunnan Province, Wuyuan in Jiangxi Province and Anshun in Guizhou Province are all popular destinations for flower fans.

*Mid-March to early April

Luoping, Yunnan Province

Luoping County in the east part of Yunnan Province is one of China’s primary canola production bases, as well as a base or bee raising and honey collection. Where there are canola flowers, there are bound to be bees. Bees in the area live on the canola flower pollen and see to it that each year has a good harvest.

In Luoping Bazi, the local plains in the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, is home to around 133 million square meters of canola flowers every spring. The fields are like a golden sea.

Nankun Railway and No 324 National Highway both cross the fields.

Jinji Mountain in the northeast of Luoping is the best place to view the canola flowers. Mornings in Luoping are usually foggy. If you climb to the summit, you can see the outlines of other mountains nearby. When the fog lifts, you can see the flowers. Beekeepers’ cars scatter in the fields, like ships in the ocean. The beekeepers unload their beehives from the vehicles and unleash the insects on the flowers.Getting there: In Kunming, capital city of Yunnan Province, there are tourist trains directly to Luoping. The whole journey is around four hours and tickets cost 17 to 30 yuan. Bus tickets cost 25 to 30 yuan.

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