Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Luoping Yellow Canola Fields

By Jonny Blair


Luoping is a fantastic off the beaten track place to witness natural yellow Canola Fields in an unknown village called Jin Ji Cun. This part of China is remote and inspiring.

Most travel books don't even include Luoping when mentioning China's Yunnan Province, that's how this place manages to stay so unknown. These yellow Canola fields are everywhere in the Springtime near Jin Ji Cun village, close to the town of Luoping.

What are the Yellow Canola Fields in Jin Ji Cun?

This series of yellow fields are so coloured due to the flowers. The rapeseed harvest in Spring contains a load of yellow flowers adding magnificent colour to the region. It is used to make Canola Oil.

When is the best time to visit the Yellow Canola Fields at Jin Ji Cun?

You can ONLY see these yellow canola fields in Spring time, so this is ESSENTIAL to know. Generally this means January to April, but really do your research first. Early March seems to be a good time.

Getting to Luoping Yellow Canola Fields:

It's quite tricky to get to. Start off in the city of Luoping and get a bus out to Jin Ji Cun. Check with the locals by showing them photos of the fields and the Chinese character names. From there it's a 20 minute bus ride.

The first bus will be a green mini-bus which costs 5RMB. There won't be any other foreigners around.

The bus takes around 20 - 25 minutes and drops you right off at the entrance to the Yellow Canola Fields. The fields will be on your right, and the village of Jin Ji Cun will be on your left - you will most likely head to Jin Ji Cun after seeing the Yellow Canola Fields, as there are ample accommodation options there.

How much is the entry fee to Yellow Canola Fields?

There is no entry fee! The yellow canola fields are natural and completely free to visit, the beauty of the travelling lifestyle.

What do you do at the Yellow Canola Fields in Jin Ji Cun?

They are yellow canola fields. You look at them and you admire them and you take some photos. Yes that's it. On the way there you walk down a path through a market where there are lots of local food stalls - things like potato, chicken and honey are all sold here. The path is less than 500 metres long and that's the only commercial thing here! There is no ticket booth and certainly no widespread advertising. This is as natural and uncommercial as a top tourist attraction can get.

To get really decent views over the yellow Canola fields, head to the top of one of the small hills in and around the fields. There are custom built paths up to the top.

Once you've seen it, head to the village of Jin Ji Cun to get a place to stay for the night. The yellow canola fields are meant to look great at sunrise and sunset. When we visited, you couldn't see the sun at all, so it was just admiring the fields themselves!

Are these yellow canola fields at Jin Ji Cun special?

NO, of course not - these types of fields are everywhere, including parts of China, Australia, Canada and the USA. BUT this is a great place to see a vast number of them looking so pretty. It is also a fantastic off the beaten track spot and it was my first time to see these types of yellow fields. I really recommend it!

What else is there to do near the Yellow Canola Fields?

There are a few other things to see and do including an incredible national park with the 9 dragons waterfalls and riding on the back of a cart led by a yak. But the main attraction for now is the Yellow Canola Fields!




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