SUB-TROPICAL Shenzhen may be ablaze with flowers, but for a fresh taste of spring, head for the fields of yellow rapeseed flowers in Yingde City of northern Guangdong.

A four-hour trip from Shenzhen, the rapeseed fields in Xinjian Village, Shakou Township, are now in full bloom. The village's two-million square meters of rapeseed form the province's major growing area for farming the plant's edible oil.

From cash crop to tourist attraction, the flowering area, called "Caihuayu," the word for rapeseed flowers, has become a spring destination over the past few years.

The rapeseed fields line both sides of the Yingqu Highway, easily seen by car or bicycle. The fields are part of the Yingde National Forest Park, which offers tourist attractions year around.

Caihuayu's rapeseed flowers begin to blossom at the end of February and do not wither until mid-May. They are followed by lotus flowers and sun flowers, which blossom in summer. In autumn, wild chrysanthemums and paddy seeds form a golden blanket. In winter, snow glistens on top of 1,397-meter Zhangshan Mountain inside the park resort.

Worth a weekend trip, Shakou Township is rich in history, with temples built in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), traditional Hakka residences, a museum exhibiting household tools from the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1644-1911), as well as workshops making oil, wine, tofu skin and tofu in traditional ways.

Since Yingde is home to both Hakka and Cantonese people, both traditions flavor the cooking. Tofu, chicken and fish from a local reservoir are the township's best-known delicacies. Local snacks are worth a try.

Getting there:

Yingde National Forest Park, 160 kilometers from Shenzhen, is a three to four-hour drive along Guangzhou-Shenzhen Highway, Guangzhou-Qingyuan Highway and Qingyuan-Yinzhan-Yingde Highway. Or you can take a train from Shenzhen to Yingde, plus an 80-yuan taxi ride to the park.

Recommended itinerary for a two-day trip:

Day 1: Leave Shenzhen for downtown Yingde. After checking into your hotel, visit Baihua Market for Cantonese and Hakka snacks. Then visit the Cha Ye Shi Jie (World of Tea Leaves), a vast tea farm. The farm also sells its own chickens.

In the afternoon, take the two-hour cruise along the Xianqiao River. The five-kilometer river is mostly underground.

Day 2: Drive about one and a half hours from downtown Yingde to Caihuayu for the fields of rapeseed flowers. Have farm food in downtown Shakou. Try making oil, wine and grinding grain at local workshops

Editor: Wing