Fragrant Hills

Introducing Fragrant Hills Park
Located on the west side of Beijing，Fragrant Hills is a large forest park with the characteristics of imperial gardens in which natural landscape is combined with artificial scenery. It is more than 20 kilometers from Beijing and covers an area of 160 hectares. Its highest peak, 557 meters above sea level, looks like a huge incense burner, so it gets the name “Incense Burner Peak”：the name Fragrant Hills (Xiang Shan) is derived from this.

Fragrant Hills Park Fast Facts
• Chinese Name: Xiangshan Gongyuan 香山公园
• Best Time to Visit: April to May, September to October
• Recommended Visiting Hours: About 2 to 4 hours
• Things to Do: Photography, Hiking
• Opening Hours: 06:00-18:00 from Nov.16 to Mar.31; 06:00-19:00 from Jul.01 to Aug.31; Other dates: 06:00-18:30
• Entrance Fee: ¥10/person from Apr.01 to Nov.15; ¥5/person from Nov.16 to Mar.31
• Address: No.40 Maimai Street, Haidian District, Beijing

What to expect at Fragrant Hills Park

Attractions at the Park
The Yong'an Temple was built here by the emperor of the Jin Dynasty in 1186, with temporary palaces built aside. The temple was expanded by later generations. To the tenth year of Emperor Qianlong's reign (1745), Fragrant Hills was expanded to be a temple with 28 spots, and was renamed Jingyi Garden. At Fragrant Hills, the variety of Red Leaves include 7 species of 13 sorts of trees, with a total amount of 120 thousand trees and total planting area of about 87 hectares. The sight is rather magnificent.

Main Routes to Explore the Park
Visitors may take two main routes 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 in half by a bridge. Study of Reading Heart was built in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and was noted as the park inside Fragrant Hills Park. 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 been partially 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.

Another route leads to the south area of the 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 Fragrant Hills is worthwhile to visit. 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 site for the headquarters of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.

How to get to Fragrant Hills Park

By Bus
• Take bus 318, 331, 360, 630, or 698 and get off at Xiangshan Station.
• Take bus 563 and get off at Xiangshan Gongyuan Dongmen Station.

• By Metro
• Take Metro Line 10 to Bagou Station. Then take Western Suburban Line and get off at Xiangshan Station. Walk around 10 minutes to Park.

Additional travel advice on Fragrant Hills Park
• Please wear comfortable walking shoes with a good grip.
• Prepare drinkable water, and wear sunscreen, hat and sunglasses to prevent sunburns in summer.