Bright yellow oilseed rape flowers have woven golden blankets around rural Jiangsu , suggesting farmers will earn a fair income in the year to come.
But for residents of three townships in Huaian city near a section of the Beijing-Shanghai Expressway, the fields are only a reminder of a tragedy.
'Who would have imagined that a traffic accident could kill so many people [who were not in the vehicles]?' asked Zhu Licheng, one of the thousands of villagers who fled their homes on March 29 after a truck crashed, releasing deadly chlorine gas.
'We'd never heard of chlorine before. And now the crops growing in our fields are useless. No one dares to eat them.'
The chemical spill came after an overloaded truck carrying more than 40 tonnes of liquified chlorine - well above the permitted maximum of 15 tonnes - burst a tyre and rammed into another truck. Both vehicles were registered in Shandong.
The toxic gas claimed 29 lives, according to the government - although some villagers say the number is higher - and forced the evacuation of more than 10,000 people. Another 436 were treated in hospitals.