Fragrant Hills Park

If you happen to take your trip in autumn, a visit to Fragrant Hills Park (address: No. 40 Maimai Street, Haiding District) is a wonderful way to round off your vacation. The park is located in the eastern part of the western hills, 20 km northwest of Beijing City. This famous royal garden park is regarded as the best place to enjoy the blazing Maple trees, scattered over the mountain during October and November. Admission fee is CNY10.00 during peak season and CNY5.00 off-season. A cable car is also available, the charge is CNY30.00.

Transport to Fragrant Hills Park is very easy. You can choose from the many buses that stop there: Bus 634 or 904 at the Xizhimen bus stop, bus 733 from Gongzhufen Bei stop, bus 331 from Xinjiekou Huokou stop, bus 318 from Apple Garden, bus 360 from Beijing Zoo, or bus 333 from the Summer Palace. Other buses are also available, such as 318, 331, 714, 733 and 833. If you are leaving from the Wangfujing district, take the No. 1 subway to Bajiao Amusement Park and connect with bus No. 60 heading directly to the foot of Fragrant Hills.

Entering the East Gate of the park, the Fragrant Hills Hotel is on your left. Walking along its left path and passing the Jingcui Lake, you will reach the Shuangqing Villa, where Chairman Mao lived from March to November in 1949. Keep walking down the path and turn right, where you will see the ruins of Fragrant Hills Temple. Here you can see the stone archway, stone steps and stone pillars.

Dr. Sun Yat-Sen's Memorial Hall

Starting from Xiangshan Temple and climbing towards the northwest, you will pass Baisong Pavilion and Huangguang Temple, and finally, the Senyu Tablets. Further up is the most famous spot called Western Hills Shimmering in Snow. The inscriptions in these two sites were both written by Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty. Going down the hill, you will pass the third and forth Yuhua Villas and reach the central point of the Fragrant Hills Park, Yuhua Resort. Every autumn, more than 100,000 magnificent red-leafed trees make the hillside red as if it was on fire - a sight of beauty beyond comparison. From there turn north, past Furong Hall and the Glazed Pagoda and you will approach Zhaomiao Lama Temple, which was built by Emperor Qianlong in 1780 to welcome the 6th Bainqen Lama. The archway in front of Zhaomiao Lama Temple is the most exquisite one existing in Beijing.

Now you are at the North Gate of the park. From here you can take the cable-car straight to Xianglu Peak, also know as The Devil's Frown, or you can keep heading north to see Dr. Sun Yat-Sen's Memorial Hall and the Diamond Seat Pagoda. The very clear signs along the road can direct you to your preferred destinations. Half a day will give you plenty of time to get up the hill and enjoy the sights along the way in a leisurely way.

Maple trees in the Fragrant Hills Park

In the afternoon, if you still feel energetic, you can take a 30-minute walk to the West or South Gate of the Beijing Botanical Garden. In the Gardens you will find the plant exhibit area, historic spots and cultural landscape, natural reserve areas and a research zone. You can feast your eyes on the many precious plant collections and wonder at nature's charms. Admission fee is CNY5.00; if you want to visit the big greenhouse to appreciate more rare plants and flowers, there is an extra charge of CNY50.00.

The Wofo Temple (Sleeping Buddha Temple) is in the northeast part of the Botanical Gardens, admission fee CNY5.00. The temple is so named because it has a huge copper sleeping statue of Sakyemuni, 5.2 m in length and weighing 250,000 kg. There are 12 Yuanjue Bodhisattva sitting around the sleeping Buddha with sad and serious expressions. The scene shows the moment of Sakyemuni giving his parting instructions to his followers before his nirvana.

When you have finished your visit, you can take bus 331, 634, 696, Yuntong 112 at the Wofo Temple bus stop. Or, you can exit from the South Gate of the Botanical Gardens and walk about 200 meters southward to the Botanical Gardens bus stop, where buses 360, 318, 714, and 698 are available.