What better way to celebrate spring than by walking through yellow rape flower fields in the countryside? The rape flower has for centuries been used as fodder for farm animals and it's an important crop due to the oil pressed from its seeds. It has now also become a new tourist attraction for city dwellers.

As the mercury rises, some rural areas will soon be surrounded by a sea of the bright yellow rape flowers that are coming into bloom all over China.

Here are some good places, from the city's suburbs to the country's rural areas, for you to visit and check out this natural, yellow phenomenon. Pack your bag and take your camera to capture the first sign of spring.

Pandian Village Fengxian District

Shanghai

The town, which boasts the Shanghai's largest area of rape flower fields (more than 667 hectares), will open the city's first rape flower festival next weekend.

A 13-hectare rape flower labyrinth has been completed in the town's Pandian Village. The maze has been made by cutting a convoluted path in the plot of short grass and rape flowers with several dead ends and only one way in and out. It will be a tough challenge for visitors.

Near the labyrinth is a workshop where visitors can have a quick glance at how the oil was squeezed and extracted from the rape seeds hundreds of years ago. Try your hand at this centuries-old agricultural tradition.

Date: March 29-April 12

Transport: A4 Highway

Minle County

Gansu Province

The county is famous for its rape flowers and barley. The flowers bloom in July due to the western province's unique weather conditions.

Situated at the foot of the Qilianshan Mountains, with peaks of more than 4,000 meters and many glaciers, the rape flowers with their beautiful fragrant aroma in Minle County are bigger and stronger than in other places.

To see the flowers in Minle, you can make a tour as below: Xining City (Qinghai Province) - Datong County - Menyuan and Qilian counties - Minle County (Gansu Province). The 338-kilometer route is difficult, but the breathtaking landscape along the road makes it worthwhile.

Tips:

As the places are mostly secluded, mountainous and sparsely populated, don't expect the sanitation conditions in the hotels are as high-quality as those in the big cities. Simple food is provided and hot water is assured, but bundle up and keep warm at the high altitudes.

Wuyuan

Jiangxi Province

Crowned "one of the country's most beautiful villages," Wuyuan has earned its fame as a heaven on Earth dotted with caves, rock formations, secluded villages and numerous historic sites. It has nationally famous rape flowers that flourish over the mountains, along the country roadsides, and on the terraced fields.

Each year from January to March, the village is crowded with visitors from all over China. In recent years, Wuyuan has become many Shanghainese people's top choice as a place to go to embrace the arrival of spring.

Wuyuan lies in the northeastern part of Jiangxi Province, on the boundary of Anhui and Zhejiang provinces. It is in the center of the golden triangle of Yellow Mountain, Lushan and Sanqing mountains, all famous mountains in the country.

Among the rape flower sites in Wuyuan, Jiangling is the must-see. Seas of yellow flowers bloom from the top of the mountain down to the valley floor. Standing on the peaks of the mountains, it is possible to see waves of golden blossom, dotted with several old villages stretching away in the distance.

Wuyuan often has heavy mists. Good pictures require patience but as the mist lifts, the magnificent scenery will unfold slowly.

The best rape flower route is Ziyang Town-Xiaoqi-Jiangling-Qingyuan. All of these places boast large fields of rape flowers, but the roads are muddy and bumpy. Be careful.

Transport:

Take the Huhang (Shanghai-Hangzhou) Highway. Transfer to Hangjinqu (Hangzhou-Jinhua-Quzhou) Highway at Raocheng. Turn right after getting off the Changshan ramp. Drive in the direction of "Kaihua, Wuyuan." The whole trip takes about five hours.

There are also shuttle buses between Shanghai and Wuyuan. The bus ticket is 100 yuan (US$14) and the trip takes eight hours.

Accommodations:

Wuyuan has many hotels, but if a more individual trip is desired then staying in a farmer's home might be a better idea. In Wuyuan, the more remote the area is, the cheaper the room rate. In Qinghua and Xiaoqi, one night in a farmer's house costs around 60 yuan (US$8.6).

Ancient towns in the southern part of the Yangtze River

The rape flowers in the water towns of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River might not be as magnificent as those in Wuyuan and Minle, but they have their own elegance and beauty.

These old towns are crisscrossed with waterways and have small patchworks of rape flowers and rice fields.

A boat ride through these centuries-old towns with their stone bridges will give the visitor an idea of their grace.

Water towns, such as Tongli, Zhouzhuang, both in Jiangsu Province, and Nanxun in Zhejiang Province, are all good examples.

(Shanghai Daily March 24, 2008)