Red leaves a bright impression

It's time to view Beijing's gorgeous, red autumn leaves. Located in Fragrant Hill Forest Park at the east side of Xishan Mountain of Beijing, Fragrant Hill is one of the four most famous sites to view maples in China. Covering 87 hectares, the 120,000 trees here include seven species of 13 different varieties. From mid-October to early November every year, thousands flock to Fragrant Hill to admire these red leaves. Other sites such as Badaling, Miaofengshan Mountain and Baiwangshan Mountain are also crowded with people.

If you want to be miles away from the crowds, and yet savor the wilderness of beautiful autumn scenes, take a drive along the State Highway 109. Also known as the Jinglan (Beijing-Lanzhou) Highway (), it runs from Fuchengmen Bridge on the western 2nd Ring Road through Shijingshan district to western Beijing, leaving Beijing via Mentougou district.

Thousands of fallen maple leaves lining the highway are so red that you could easily mistake them for fallen petals from afar. Looking out of the windows, you will be greeted by an eye-popping sight of bright red, pink, scarlet, and yellow leaves interspersed with green pines and cypresses.