Yellow Rape flowers

　　
　　In Jul, when the seeds of rape have turned into oil in southern China, the flowers of rape are bursting into blooming on 3200m altitude Qinghai Lake area. There are nearly one million mu of yellow flowers of rape around more than half of the lake. In the sunshine, the golden flowers seems to be a large sea, which reaches Qingshizui in the west, Yulongtan in the east, Lenglongling in the north and Daban Mount in the south. Datong River seems to be a silver belt in the flower sea. Many artists said that the large scale of yellow flower of rape evokes their imagination and stimulates their desire of creation.

The best place of appreciating rape flowers

　　1. On the way to Qinghai Lake, you can see large scale of rape flowers on the east of Riyue Mount, where the flowers are divided by layer along with terraced fields. On the west of Riyue Mount, the yellow flowers are scattered on the bank of Qinghai Lake. There is a small port, where travelers can appreciate the lake and flowers by boat.

　　2 There is a large scale of yellow flowers of rape in Menyuan, from Qingshizui in the west, Yulongtan in the east, Lenglongling in the north and Daban Mount in the south.

The best period of appreciating rape flowers

　　Jul is the best month to appreciate rape flowers in Qinghai Province. At that time, the temperature is about 18℃, which is cool for tourists camping on the bank of Qinghai Lake. More than 600,000 mu of yellow rape flowers seems to be a sea, which matches the blue lake water quite perfectly.

The best route of appreciating rape flowers

　　1. It’s about 80km from Xining to Qinghai Lake and a circle of the lake is 400km. If taking a taxi, the fare for one day is RMB500.

　　2. You can take a bus from Xining Passenger Station to Haomen Town, Menyuan County. Everyday, there are four buses for Haomen, with two in the morning and two in the afternoon. The journey will last for 5 hours. After arriving in Haomen Town, you can take a taxi to appreciate yellow rape flowers.

　　3. You can also take a bus from Xining Passenger Station to Heimahe Town. The journey will last for 5 hours and the fare is about RMB 20. Then, you can take a texi to Bird Island, which costs about RMB 50.