The sleepy county of Luoping in eastern Yunnan, China gets a Midas touch each spring when fields of blooming canola flowers turn its farmlands yellowish gold. Canola is the trade name for a Canadian-developed, low acid cultivar of the rapeseed plant. While canola is grown across China, the producers of Luoping combine to make one of the country’s largest crops, so a field-full is a particularly spectacular sight.
In some areas, the canola is grown in sloping patterns similar to rice terraces that follow the contours of the landscape, adding to the striking appearance of the fields. Jinjifeng (Golden Rooster Hill) is one of the most well-known viewpoints for admiring the flowers when they reach peak bloom between February and March.
