Canola Flower Fields – Qujing, China - Atlas Obscura

Canola Flower Fields

This quiet area of Yunnan Province annually transforms into an unbelievable sea of yellow flowers. 

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Luoping County is quiet for most of the year until the canola flowers bloom, and then the countryside is reborn into a vibrant natural spectacle of yellow flowers as far as the eye can see. 

The fields of canola — also known as rapeseed — are used in the production of cooking oil. They’re also as popular with bees as tourists and photographers, so beekeepers set up tents among the flowers during their February to March bloom. While most anywhere outside the limits of the small town of Luoping is drenched in the sunny hues, the most surreal places to view them are with the towering mountains like the Golden Rooster Hill (aka Jinjifeng) and Hundred Thousand Hills spiking up from the floral fields. In some areas they also form otherworldly shapes in the terraced farms. 

At the beginning of the canola season an annual festival is held in the flower’s honor, while after the petals fall Luoping County returns to its slumber amongst the hills. 

Know Before You Go

Buses and trains leave from nearby Kunming to Luoping for about a four hour trip.

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