Menyuan

Menyuan lies in a broad valley at around 2,900 metres between the Qilian and Daban ranges, and because the altitude pushes the growing season late, its rapeseed flowers in July when lowland crops elsewhere are long finished. The scale is what draws people: some six hundred square kilometres of it in the county, filling the valley floor from one range to the other in an unbroken yellow with snow still on the peaks above, and beekeepers working the bloom. Viewing platforms sit on the slopes, the railway crosses the valley, and the roads through it are the simplest way to see the whole spread.

What you actually see

• The valley of yellow - rapeseed filling the floor between two ranges.
• The snow peaks - the Qilian mountains above the flowering fields.
• The bee camps - hives brought in to work the bloom.
• The hill viewpoints - platforms looking down the length of the valley.

When to go

July, and the window is roughly three weeks; earlier the fields are green, later they are cut. The exact peak shifts by a week or so each year with the season.

Honest expectations

Outside July there is nothing particular to see. The bloom draws heavy weekend traffic and accommodation fills. Some viewing platforms charge. Altitude at 2,900 metres is noticeable.

Nearby

Xining lies south; the Qilian grasslands are north.