Fragrant Hills Park covers a large area with abundant natural sceneries and cultural
relics. Situated in the east part of western hills, 17 miles (28 kilometers)
northwest of Beijing City[Haidian district], it is made up of hills and forest which covers 400
acres (162 hectares), with the Xianglu Peak (Incense Burner Peak), 1,830 feet
(558 meters) high, which is its highest peak.
In
1186 in the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234), Fragrant Hills Park was first built and later
in the Yuan and Ming dynasties was extended to a large scale. In 1745, Emperor Qianlong (1711-1799) ordered people
to build many new halls, pavilions and gardens and gave the Park a new name,
Jingyi Garden (Garden of Tranquility and Pleasure). In 1860 and 1900 after the Summer Palace and
the Yuanming Yuan (the Old Summer Palace) were unfortunately set on fire,
foreign troops damaged lots of relics in the Fragrant Hills. Since 1949, under restoration and development
by Chinese government for half a century, it has been regarded as one of the
ten most famous parks in Beijing City.
The
red smoke tree leaves over the mountains is the most spectacular natural
scenery in the Fragrant Hills Park. When autumn arrives, fiery red leaves
blanket the entire mountain. Thousands of visitors come to it every year. People
can take the cable cars to see the beautiful scenes.
There are two main
routes for visitors to explore the park
The
first one is to go along the north route, where visitors will see Spectacles
Lake (Yanjing Lake), Study of Reading Heart (Jianxin Zhai), Bright Temple (Zhao
Miao), etc. Spectacles Lake is a lake divided half by a bridge. Study of
Reading Heart was built in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and was noted as the
park inside it. Bright Temple is a large Tibetan style lamasery complex built
in 1780 as the residence for the sixth Panchen Lama during his visits to Emperor
Qianlong. Buildings in the complex have partially been burned down. Among the
surviving treasures are a majestic glazed-tiled archway in front of the
complex, a Tibetan style terrace and a glazed-tiled pagoda. Bells hung on the
eaves of the pagoda chime in breeze.
The
second route takes visitors to the south area of Fragrant Hills Park. Main
attractions along the route include Tranquility Green Lake (Jingcui Lake),
Shuangqing Villa, Fragrant Temple, Incense Burner Peak, etc. This route is a
little hard for the highest peak, Incense Burner Peak. However it is worthwhile
to try. One of the 'must see' points of interest is the Shuangqing Villa, which
is attractive not for its natural beauty but more for its place in Chinese
history - it was once the residence of Chairman Mao Zedong as well as an early
sight for the headquarters of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist
Party.
The
alluring beauty of it for you to appreciate all it has to offer.
Recommended
red leaves watching routes:
Route
1: East gate - Jingcui Lake - Shuangqing Villa - Xiangshan Temple - Heshun Gate
- hill top
Tips:
The route takes about two hours. Need to climb up the hill.
Route
2: East gate - Yuhua Xiu - Xiangwu Ku - hill top
Tips:
This is a meek route and suitable for family going together.
Route
3: North gate - cable car station - hill top
Tips:
It is 5 minutes' walking distance from the north gate southward to the cable
car. By cable, you can get to the hill top nearly 20 minutes later. You can
have a bird-eye view of Biyun Temple (Temple of Azure Clouds) and overlook the
red leaves afar.
Transportation:
By
Bus:
Take
bus 563, 318, 360 Express, 714, 698, 331, 360, 696, 630 and get off at Xiang
Shan Station.
By
Subway:
Take
Subway Line 4 to Beigongmen Station and get off from Exit A. Then transfer to
bus 331 or 696 to Xiangshan Station.
Tickets:Admission
Fee:
Apr.1
to Nov.15: CNY 10; Nov.16
to Mar.31: CNY 5
Biyun
Temple: CNY10
Cable
Car: CNY 60 for single trip (CNY 20 for children below 1.2 meters)
Opening
Hours:April 1 - June 30: 06:00 to 18:30
July
1 - August 31: 06:00 to 19:00
September
1 - November 15: 06:00 to 18:30
