The golden fields of Luoping (罗平): things to do

Find out some things to do and see in Luoping (罗平), an amazing place in the province of Yunnan in China, and when is the best time to visit it.

Not long ago, I wrote an article about Dashanbao, an amazing off-the-beaten-path place in Yunnan, and the rice terraces of Yuan Yang.

Great landscapes, Chinese minorities, and some unique wildlife, such as the Yunnan Snub-Nosed monkeys, are just some of the features of the Yunnan Province (here is my travel guide to Yunnan).

Another place well worth a visit is Luoping 罗平. Like Dashanbao, you can’t find much info about it, so these are my two cents.

Luoping is a unique place that somehow reminds me of Provence. While Provence is famous for the lavender fields, Luoping is famous for the rapeseed flowers.

If possible, Luoping is even more beautiful. The landscape is dotted with hundreds of karst hills, which makes this location unique: it’s a real paradise for photographers and anyone who loves nature (another unique place famous for its nice flower fields is Furano in Japan).

Rapeseed flowers are harvested to produce oil, fuel, and honey. What impresses every visitor is the size of the fields. Compared to Luoping, Provence looks like a small garden. But you know, China is a big country so everything is bigger there.

When is the best time to visit Luoping?

Luoping is close to Guizhou and Guangxi provinces. If you want to visit Luoping, remember that there is a specific time of the year to see the flowers: between the end of February and the beginning of April, just before the Jacaranda Trees bloom in May (check out this article).

Honestly, there are no reasons to visit this place any other time of the year. So, if you are planning your trip to China and want to include Luoping, remember that summer or fall is not the right season to see the canola flowers.

Canola grows in many other places in China, blossoming at different times of the year depending on location and temperature. Still, the fields in Luoping are the biggest in China. Those in Guizhou are the second largest.

The blooming season is also the busiest for the beekeepers. Many of them are busy working and trying to sell their products.

Most of the time, during the peak season, they live right in the fields. Once the blooming season is over, they move to nearby places where the bees can find wildflowers.

Before buying their honey, ask if you can taste it. The quality is probably not the best if the price is too low (less than 20 RMB for one jar).

Another thing you’ll notice while walking along the fields is the warmth of the Chinese people. Don’t be surprised if they ask you to take some pictures with them: they love meeting foreigners. Just get used to it because it will happen many times. At first, it’s quite funny, but it can get quite annoying after a while, especially when people don’t ask and take pictures of you without your permission.

If you want to spend a night in Luoping, I suggest this hotel since it’s located very close to the park entrance.

How to get to Luoping and useful reminders

Getting to Luoping is not difficult. There is a train from Kunming to Luoping (罗平) and several daily buses from the Kunming East Couch Bust Station. Getting to the bus station is easy because it’s one of the stops on the Subway. The bus will take you to the Luoping North Bus Station in Luoping town, about 20 minutes from where there are all the fields.

Get a taxi from Luoping to Golden Chicken Peak (金鸡峰丛). That’s where you must pay for the ticket to enter the fields. If you plan to stay for one night, look for a hotel in the village on the other side of the road.

The best view of the landscape is from the top of the hills. Choose one and hike it. Recently, the local government built a wooden staircase to get to the top of one of the tallest hills.

Remember that the internet in China is censored, so you can’t use Gmail, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. If you need to use one of those websites, you need a VPN. This VPN works well in China. Here, you can find 5 reasons to always use a VPN.

Bring a good camera, several SD cards, and a tripod. You’ll need them. Having a drone is better because it will allow you to take unique pictures.

Here you can find more pictures I took in Yunnan, and here is an interesting post about the last Yunnan Snub-Nosed Monkeys.

Here a post about the Jiuxiang caves in Yunnan, and here is an article about the beautiful Shaxi old town.