Flowers Cannot Do Without Water, A Different Rapeseed Flower Sea

📍 Queenstown · 👁 5451 reads · ❤️ 26 likes

This travelogue is titled 'Flowers Cannot Do Without Water'. First, take a look at a photo showing flowers cannot do without water.

The perfect combination of lake water and rapeseed flowers, a different kind of rapeseed flower sea.

One day in 2020, while watching TV, I happened to tune into the 'Grand Land Lecture' program on CCTV17. At that time, the program was talking about the Duotian (raised fields) of Xinghua, Jiangsu. On the screen, I saw the lake water and rapeseed flowers complementing each other, an extraordinary sea of rapeseed flowers, extremely beautiful. I had never known about this scenic spot before; I was a bit out of touch. Seeing such a vivid scene for the first time, I, who love traveling, secretly made up my mind to find a chance to go see those Duotian. Time passed to 2021. In March, Shanghai had continuous rain, until the 22nd when the weather forecast said it would be sunny for the next few days. I had to seize this rare sunny day. Setting off early on the 24th, drive on the Beijing-Shanghai Expressway for 4.5 hours, with a short rest at a service area. Arrived at Qian Duo Scenic Area at 11:30. Went to the visitor center and saw a frustrating scene: rapeseed flowers were in full bloom, and although it was not a weekend, tourists were still streaming in. There were only two windows for individual ticket sales, no self-service ticket machines, and reservations had to be made one day in advance. Individual tourists had to queue in a long line waiting to buy tickets, waiting a full half hour before getting the ticket. This shows that the scenic area management is not perfect; there are problems with management. Full ticket price is 50 RMB per person, half price for students and seniors. The painted boat tour is 50 RMB per person; I felt that taking such a boat was unnecessary, so I did not buy a boat ticket. After entering the gate at around 12:00 noon, there is a short walk from the visitor center to the flower sea in the scenic area. It can be seen that the scenic area put in some effort, building a few small sculptures with local characteristics along the way, very interesting.

Internet-famous photo spot.

Cute little white rabbit.

Small sculptures with local characteristics — oil pressing. Look, there is even a bird's nest on the branch.

A little boy catching crabs.

Childhood memories.

Walking slowly inward, the scenery gradually improves.

The further you go, the more beautiful the flower sea becomes.

After walking for about 10 minutes, I reached the first observation deck. Looking down from above, the Duotian I had been thinking about came into view. Plots of rapeseed flower fields spread flat on the wide lake, unique, a different kind of rapeseed flower sea.

The Xinghua Duotian, belonging to Taizhou, Jiangsu, was originally ordinary farmland. As more people came, it became a tourist attraction. Surrounded by a small ditch, you cannot enter without a ticket. To attract tourists, the scenic area built four observation decks. Overlooking from above, the scenery is spectacular.

Before I knew it, I had reached the boat dock.

A large group of tourists in the middle were waiting for the painted boat. Personally, I think instead of taking a boat tour, it's better to immerse yourself in nature and walk, weaving through the maze-like rapeseed fields, the scenery is even better.

Most tourists chose to take the boat, but I prefer to walk through the fields of nature, enjoying the gifts of nature during the holiday.

Weaving between flowers and water, how pleasant!

Isn't weaving through the maze-like Duotian more interesting than taking a painted boat?

A hardworking little bee flew towards the rapeseed flowers, attracted by the sweet scent.

Flowers cannot do without water.

Colorful flower sea — look at this rapeseed flower field, not golden, but composed of different colors, a unique rapeseed flower field. Just like the title of my travelogue — a different kind of rapeseed flower sea.

Internet-famous photo spot.

Xinghua is the top city for river crab farming in China. A huge crab sculpture attracted many tourists to stop and take photos.

After 2 hours of walking, I inadvertently reached the core area of Qian Duo Scenic Area. Climbed the core observation deck and continued to overlook.

Leaving the core area, I started to head back. A local cultural and art troupe was performing local opera.

Folk cultural performance in the scenic area.

Folk cultural performance. I spent over 3 hours in the Qian Duo Scenic Area, fully enjoying the Duotian floating on thousands of lakes, very satisfied. At around 3:00 pm, I left Qian Duo Scenic Area and headed to Taizhou, planning to stay overnight in Taizhou City. On the way, I made a mistake: I always thought Huangqiao Ancient Town was between Xinghua and Taizhou, so I navigated to Huangqiao Ancient Town first. Actually, Huangqiao is farther than Taizhou, which made me take a lot of detours. Unnecessary. I know that Marshal Chen Yi won a battle in Huangqiao, and a movie 'The Battle of Huangqiao' was made, so I had long wanted to visit. Passing by, I went there out of admiration. Arriving at Huangqiao Ancient Town, the scene stunned me. It is called an ancient town, but in reality, it is all newly built old streets. The two 'old streets' were desolate, with no historical value at all. After driving for 2 hours on the highway, I saw fake antiques, which was unpleasant.

Desolate fake antiques — Huangqiao Ancient Town.

Unvisited fake antiques — Huangqiao Ancient Town. The shops along the street were all closed because there was no business.

Newly built fake antiques — Huangqiao Ancient Town.

Fake antiques with few locals — Huangqiao Ancient Town. I felt deceived. I walked in this so-called ancient town for only about 10 minutes and then left dejectedly. Too boring. Next stop: Taizhou for accommodation. At around 6:00 pm, I arrived at the Wanfeng Hotel booked through Ctrip, 388 RMB per night, including breakfast, free parking. This hotel is good, under the Marriott brand, a very nice hotel.

Taizhou Wanfeng Hotel

Spacious room.

Taizhou Wanfeng Hotel. It was getting late. A 10-minute walk led me to an ordinary, affordable local restaurant — Lao Hailing. I ordered a few small dishes, and they tasted great.

Qinhu Eight Delicacies — fish meat delicate, small crabs small but with full roe and plump flesh, with a small amount of eel, softshell turtle, loach, snails, etc. Very delicious, thumbs up.

Hailing Tossed Dried Tofu — soft, tender, smooth, worthy of its reputation, delicious. Plus two other dishes, total less than 200 RMB, good value for money. Satisfied with food and drink. Remember this restaurant — Lao Hailing. Almost no tourists; locals were dining there. The business was very good, the hall was fully occupied. After dinner, a 10-minute walk brought me to Taizhou's famous Fengcheng River to see the night view.

Night view of Fengcheng River. Nearby is a painted boat dock. This is a major sight in Taizhou. Since it was dark and I was tired from the day, I took a simple tour and returned to the hotel to rest, ending a pleasant day.

Key points for today: the correct route is Xinghua -> Taizhou -> Huangqiao -> Shanghai, but I mistakenly made it Xinghua -> Huangqiao -> Taizhou -> Shanghai, taking many unnecessary detours. 1. Xinghua Qian Duo Scenic Area: many tourists, beautiful scenery, a different kind of rapeseed flower sea. For travel enthusiasts, it's a must-visit. 2. Huangqiao Ancient Town: truly fake, fake antiques. Personally, visiting Huangqiao Ancient Town is a waste of time. 3. Fengcheng River night tour: nice scenery, good for a leisure stroll. 4. The ordinary restaurant near Fengcheng River — Lao Hailing: affordable and delicious, a local favorite. Recommended!

Day 2. According to plan, today I visited Qinhu National Wetland Park (Qinhu Tourist Scenic Area). The wetland park is not yet fully constructed; some areas are still under construction. The entire scenic area is large, with a perfect combination of natural scenery and artificial attractions. It is an important check-in spot in the Taizhou area. Because of the large area, if you wander aimlessly, you might get lost. Therefore, at each artificial attraction, the park sets up guide maps. As long as you strictly follow the guide map, the tour will be both pleasant and worry-free. The wetland park ticket is 80 RMB per person, including the boat. The combined ticket for wetland park + Qintong Ancient Town is 100 RMB per person. The single ticket for Qintong Ancient Town is 40 RMB per person. Transportation is self-arranged. I bought the combined ticket. After entering the park, first take the boat to the Qinhu Science Museum. After leaving the museum, follow the guide map without backtracking. There are two options for touring: 1. take an electric cart, 2. walk. I naturally chose to walk.

In the picture above, the black dashed line is the electric cart path, and the yellow solid line is the walking path.

First sight after entering the park — the Medicine Buddha Pagoda.

Natural scenery — Wetland Experience Garden. Seeing the picture above reminded me of the Gannan Flower Lake Scenic Area and Ningxia Sand Lake I visited before; they seem to have some similarities.

Natural scenery — Wetland Experience Garden. Qinhu Wetland is known as the hometown of the elk.

Artificial attraction — Wetland Maze. Bringing kids here would definitely be fun.

Kids would surely have a great time here.

Elk viewing garden.

This place was once the filming location for the movie 'Xianghe'.

Farm Fun Park. Here there is a rich gourd culture; golden gourds have become symbols of blessings. Seeing so many red ribbons, I felt there might be a suspicious scam... (just my personal feeling).

Fish Culture Experience Garden.

Elk Experience Garden.

In the Elk Experience Garden, it felt like being on the boundless prairie again.

Hometown of the elk.

Medicinal Plant Garden.

Medicinal Plant Garden. After leaving the Medicinal Plant Garden, I had been wandering in the wetland park for several hours, finally reaching the Wetland Waterfowl Garden.

The last scenic spot in Qinhu Wetland Park — Wetland Waterfowl Garden.

Wetland Waterfowl Garden.

Wetland small island. After visiting the ten check-in spots of Qinhu Wetland Park, the clock pointed to 2:00 pm. Then I went to the second stop of the day... Qintong Ancient Town. Qintong Ancient Town has two ancient trees that are its signature: one is a century-old tea tree, the other is a thousand-year-old locust tree.

Century-old tea tree in Qintong Ancient Town. You need to buy a ticket to see it.

Ancient mansion from Ming and Qing dynasties in Qintong Ancient Town. Only visible with a purchased ticket.

Thousand-year-old locust tree. Because of its great age, the trunk is protected.

Thousand-year-old locust tree. This view requires a ticket to see.

Ancient mansion from Ming and Qing dynasties in Qintong Ancient Town, visible only with a ticket.

Western-style church in Qintong Ancient Town.

Famous local snack — fish cakes and fish balls. The entire old street has hundreds of shops making and selling fish cakes and fish balls. I ordered a portion to taste; it was okay. After wandering around Qintong Ancient Town for over an hour, I arrived at the last stop of the day at 6:00 pm — Jiangyin Feima Water City. Jiangyin Feima Water City is vast in size, grand in scale, and the night view is very beautiful. It is clearly a big project; the investors are really wealthy.

Entrance of Jiangyin Feima Water City.

Changing lights.

Gondola Water City.

Water City Art Museum.

Water city with European style. Tonight I stayed at the GreenTree Inn Express Hotel near the water city, 130 RMB per night, including breakfast, free parking. This price is quite cheap. Key points for today: 1. Qinhu National Wetland Park (Qinhu Tourist Scenic Area) has both natural scenery and artificial attractions. It is a major check-in spot in the Taizhou area. Enter the park and do not backtrack. Walking tour takes about 3 hours. Alternatively, you can take an electric cart. Ticket price: 80 RMB per person. I did not take the electric cart, so I don't know the price.

My feeling about the scenic area:

Since I have visited many great places all over the country, for me this scenic area is just so-so. For those who do not travel often, this park is quite good and worth visiting. I'm being honest. 2. Qintong Ancient Town, ticket 40 RMB per person. If you buy a ticket, you can see some ancient mansions from Ming and Qing dynasties, the century-old tea tree, etc. Without a ticket, you can only see a replica old street, where every household makes and sells fish cakes and fish balls. If you don't buy a ticket, honestly, it's similar to Huangqiao Ancient Town, not very interesting. 3. Jiangyin Feima Water City, the night view is very beautiful. If you have time, go and see it; it's an eye-catching European-style water city. Thumbs up.

Day 3. Drove home at 9:00 am, ending a joyful 3-day trip.