Century Park's 'Colorful Rapeseed Flower Sea' and 'Cherry Blossom Island' – A Spring Spectacle Not to Be Missed

In warm March, as spring returns to the earth, it's rapeseed flower season again. The 10,000-square-meter 'Colorful Rapeseed Flower Sea' in Century Park's Native Field Area has been blooming successively, a riot of colors so beautiful it captivates the eyes, adding a pastoral touch to city life.

Rapeseed flowers, though not a rare species, are unpretentiously useful. Ordinary rapeseed flowers are predominantly bright yellow, but in Century Park's flower sea, they come in deep purple, pink, white, orange-red, lilac, and other hues, set against tender green leaves, vying in splendor as if spring's palette had been spilled across the fields.

2021 marked the first year Century Park introduced colored rapeseed flowers. Unlike the single yellow of traditional varieties, these colored flowers are larger, more vivid in color, and more graceful and spectacular in form.

These colored rapeseed flowers are bred through biotechnological gene transfer, primarily intended for planting in leisure agriculture and beautiful countryside scenic spots. It took nearly a decade from initial breeding to stabilizing the flower colors.

At first, experts from the agricultural research institute noticed that radish flowers come in various colors, so they used biotechnology to transfer the color genes from radish to rapeseed. Following a progression from light to deep colors, they spent eight to nine years continuously self-pollinating the rapeseed offspring to stabilize the colors, gradually developing new varieties with white, pink, orange-red, lilac, deep purple, and other hues.

This rapeseed field has introduced new ornamental colored varieties, featuring large petals, long blooming periods, and a strong fragrance, making them highly decorative. The blooming colorful rapeseed flowers—deep purple, pink, white, orange-red, lilac—against tender green leaves vie in beauty, as if spring's palette had tipped over the fields.

Stepping into the flower field's paths feels like walking into an oil painting. The colorful rapeseed field paints spring, with bees gathering nectar from the multi-hued blossoms.

Cherry blossoms are another highlight of Century Park. The park has created Cherry Blossom Island on a peninsula in the center, surrounded by water on all sides, accompanied by bamboo and willows, creating a romantic scene. Cherry Blossom Island's lakeside reflections come in pairs. Over 1,000 cherry trees of various kinds are arranged in orderly tiers along the paths at the center of the peninsula. Most of the cherry trees on the island are those that bloom before leafing out, mainly mid- to late-blooming varieties with single-layered petals, some in pale pink like Somei-Yoshino.

A winding path planted with cherry trees connects the pigeon garden at one end to a bamboo grove at the other. In bloom season, strolling along the path, falling petals dance in the air, water shadows flicker, and tender green willow strands by the lake sway in the breeze, setting off the white or pink cherry blossoms to look even more translucent and elegant. Crossing a bridge brings you to another entrance to Cherry Blossom Island.

In full bloom, the tender green at the base of each flower sets off the entire cluster, making it look refreshingly elegant. According to the park, 90% of the cherry trees on the island are varieties that bloom before leafing out, collected from the hillsides around Xikou, Fenghua in Zhejiang Province. They are native Chinese cherry blossoms with single-layered petals, some a subtle pink, others snowy white. When in full bloom, the tender green at the heart of each flower makes the blossoms look delicate and refined.

To facilitate viewing, the park has built a wooden cherry blossom viewing pavilion in the central area of the island, complementing the surrounding cherry scenery. Leaning against the railing by the lake and gazing into the distance, the snow-white cherry blossoms appear even more bashful and charming against the backdrop of green willows and purple wildflowers.

Cherry blossoms bloom in clusters and bunches, never tiring to behold; one lingers beneath them, lost in the moment. Every cherry blossom season, walking along the forest path, the trees are a riot of bloom, petals fall like snow, water reflections dance; it's a scene of pure relaxation and pleasure. Strolling along the cherry blossom path, the pink, charming 'faces' of the blossoms are right overhead, and a romantic feeling ripples gently in your heart. Overhead is a canopy of cherry blossoms; when a breeze blows, countless petals drift down like a graceful rain of flowers—what a feast for the eyes that must be.

The park has planted brilliant February orchids under the cherry trees. Looking around, the upper layer of cherry blossoms forms clouds, while the lower layer is a carpet of February orchids. The expanses of blue February orchids echo the rows of cherry blossoms, gentle and graceful. Cherry blossoms and February orchids set each other off beautifully. The pinkish-white blossoms, when in full bloom, are luxuriant like snow. Cherry petals flutter and scatter, falling among flower beds, on the grass, along the greenways, creating endless scenery.

In spring, when people set foot on Cherry Blossom Island in Century Park, they can experience the poetic imagery and charm of Tang dynasty poet Xue Neng's 'To a Singer': 'Each new note, a pearl; her throat seems to strike coral. Listening, the seated musicians' sounds include it; after the song, it's lost among cherry blossoms and leaves.'

Amid a profusion of flowers that dazzle the eye, when we visited, besides cherry blossoms and rapeseed flowers, there were also corn poppies and yellow magnolia blooms. Looking out, as the breeze stirs, it's like a sea of flowers shimmering in many colors. Yellow, green, red, pink intermingle, letting you feel nature's magnificent splendor. The corn poppies are so vivid and delicate, ready to drip with color. As the breeze blows, they sway freely in the sea of flowers, dancing gracefully. Expanses of corn poppy blooms form a sea, the most brilliant color this spring. Under the blooming yellow magnolia trees, the undulating corn poppy fields are full of artistic conception, dreamy and romantic. Yellow magnolia, also known as the auspicious tree, has golden yellow blossoms. With corn poppies and a large lawn as companions, setting up a tent here feels like a paradise away from the world. Against the backdrop of blue sky and white clouds, the scenery is picturesque; the vast flower sea makes you fall in love. The blooms are so bold and brilliant; from a distance, it looks like an oil painting, or a rainbow of seven colors. It overwhelms you with the life rhythm of the flower sea, and the dreamy, colorful splash of a kaleidoscopic world.