Luoping

For a few weeks from late February, tens of thousands of hectares of rapeseed flower across the Luoping basin, and because the basin is scattered with small karst cones the yellow runs around and between grey hills, which is what makes it photographed rather than simply agricultural. Jinjifeng, the golden rooster hills, is the classic overlook, and Niujie holds a spiral pattern of terraced fields called the snail farms. Beekeepers move hives in to work the bloom and honey is sold along the roads. Outside the flowering weeks, Luoping is ordinary farmland with the Jiulong waterfalls nearby.

Background

Luoping County belongs to Qujing City in eastern Yunnan, near the point where Yunnan meets Guizhou and Guangxi, about 240 kilometres east of Kunming. Its neighbours are Xingyi in Guizhou on the east, Guangxi's Xilin County on the southeast, and Shizong, Luliang, Qilin and Fuyuan on the Yunnan side. Like the terraced fields of Yuanyang in southern Yunnan, its canola fields draw many photographers, and in the busy flowering season buses leave Kunming almost every hour.

Source: Wikipedia, "Luoping County"

What to look for

• The rapeseed bloom - yellow fields between karst cones for a few weeks.
• Jinjifeng viewpoint - the standard overlook across the basin.
• The snail terraces - spiral field patterns at Niujie.
• The beekeepers - hives moved in to work the flowering.

When to go

February to March, and the window is short; the bloom peaks over roughly two to three weeks and varies by year and altitude. Outside it there is little to see. Accommodation fills during the peak.

Before you go

The season is brief and easily missed by a week. Photographers crowd the viewpoints at dawn. Some overlooks charge entry, and haze is frequent.

Nearby

Jiulong waterfalls lie nearby; Kunming is west.

Key facts