Located at the foothill of Yan Mountain, on the western side of Beijing, Fragrant Hill enjoys the reputation as the best place in Beijing to see the autumn colors! Of course due to its naturally higher elevation, Fragrant Hill area also enjoys the fresher air of Beijing. Combined with densely populated trees and plant life, Fragrant Hill well deserves the reputation of Summer Retreat!

Even though Fragrant Hill is more famous for its fall colors, in my opinion, it’s beautiful during all four seasons. There are four attractions in Fragrant Hill area: Fragrant Hill Park, Beijing Botanical Garden, Cherry Blossom Valley and Reclining Buddha Temple.

Fragrant Hill Park is a large park of hills and forest covering 160 hectares (395.4 acres). The park was first built in 1186 in the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234) and later extended to a large scale in the Yuan and Ming dynasties. The most spectacular natural scenery in the Fragrant Hills Park is the red smoke tree leaves over the mountains in autumn! When autumn arrives, fiery red leaves blanket the entire mountain. It becomes one of the top attractions for the locals to look forward to in the autumn!

Beijing Botanical Garden is a large 400 Hectare ( ~988 acres) park close to XiangShan at the foot of the Western Fragrant Hills. It presents magical, peaceful surroundings just 15 km from central Beijing. There are many local and exotic flora and fauna, including the Perennial Garden, Peony Garden, Ornamental Peach Garden, a magnificent 10,000 square meter Conservatory housing Rain Forest House, Orchid House, Desert Garden House, Exhibition Flower House and numerous other gardens featuring camellias, bamboo, tree peonies, ornamental cherries and many others.

Cherry Blossom Valley, (Yingtaogou) also commonly known as the Zhou’s Family Garden, is situated at the foot of Shou’an Mountain near Fragrant Hill Park. Walking west from the Botanical Garden, one comes to a narrow, winding path, which leads to Cherry Blossom Valley; a quiet, secluded valley ideal for a getaway from the city life. During the Ming Dynasty, the Temple of Wisdom (Guanghuisi) was built here. In front of and behind the temple were orchards in which cherry trees were especially abundant, which is how the valley obtained its name. It is so quiet and peaceful here, that you can hear the sound of a bubbling spring, the wind blowing through the pine trees and birds chirping!

My favorite is actually Cherry Blossom Valley. From the name you can tell this valley is full of cherry trees which are consider rare in Beijing. And you can imagine the best time for this part of Fragrant Hill is spring: during cherry blossom time. The whole valley is full of blooming cherry and all the other flowers: peach, magnolia, peony… it’s truly a fresh picture of spring! My favorite time is sunset time at Cherry Blossom Valley, after it has quieted down from a whole day of visitors. Since it’s next to Reclining Buddha Temple, you can basically walk in between the two places. With the solemn and peaceful atmosphere of the temple, you can even appreciate more of this quiet moment by yourself.

Another reason I love Cherry Blossom Valley is that the author of my favorite Chinese book: Dream of Red Mansion – Mr. Cao Xue Qin used to live here and supposedly was inspired here. If you want to read one of the true classics of Chinese literature, Dream of Red Mansion is an incredible, haunting love story that you will never forget! If you walk all the way to the end of Cherry Blossom Valley, you will see there is a famous site called: Pine Growing Out of a Giant Rock. This was one of the most memorable symbols in his book (Dream of Red Mansion) of the love and relationship between a girl and the boy. What a touching and inspiring story!

I highly recommend if you get chance to go to Beijing, spend some time in Fragrant Hill. Even though it’s not on top of the tourist’s list, its beauty and charm will be really win you over, especially if you are into the traditional Chinese culture. Try to spend at least one night there, slow down and wander around the old temple, breathe in the fresh air from the fragrant valley, immerse yourself into mother nature, read a couple of chapters of Dream of Red Mansion… That’s an enchanting moment of your life!