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Fragrant Hill Park Beijing

Fragrant Hill Index | History | Scenic Spots | Visit Routes

Fragrance Hills, located on the east foot of Western Hills, 20 km from enter of Beijing, covers an area of 160 hectares. With surrounding green hills stretching up and down, its highest peak is 557 m in altitude and is shaped in an incense burner.

The name of the park derives not from the fresh air or aroma in the area, but in the shape of the hills themselves. 2 big stones lie on its peak and from a distance, on a mist-shrouded day, it looks much like a three-legged incense burner. The groves of apricots, peaches, pears and lilacs may also be reason for the name Fragrant Hills. Visitors to the park can reach the peak by trekking up the hill or by taking a cable car.

Being richly endowed by nature, the park has 280,000 various trees in it. Among them there are more than 5800 ancient as well as rare trees, which takes up 1/4 of Beijing area. With a 98% forest coverage, the park is examined to an area with highest negative oxygen ion in recent years. In the park, birds sing, streams flow, squirrels play with each other in green gaps, and all the things enjoy a harmony with nature. In late autumn, when hundreds of thousands of common smoke trees turn red, the boundless scene is the most distinguished autumn scenery.

From the peak of Fragrant Hill, the winding Yongding River like a white silk belt fluttering among the western valleys, the Marco Polo Bridge on the river, Shijing Mountain, the Summer Palace and Jade Spring Mountain can all be seen from here, and on a clear day one can even make out the skyline of Beijing.

History
In 1186 of the Jin Dynasty, the Xiangshan Temple was built here and for a period served as the emperor’s traveling lodge. In 1745, Emperor Qianlong had a number of large halls; pagodas, memorial archways and leisure pavilions built and changed the name of the area to Jingyiyuan. Unfortunately, almost every trace of this landscape architecture was burned or destroyed by the Anglo-French forces and the eight-Power Allied Forces in the 19th and early 20th centuries. After 1949, it was renamed Fragrant Hills Park. More information...

Visit routes
Various temples and scenic spots are scattered around the hill. Tourists usually take two routes to explore the whole park. The first choice is to go along the path northward and then turn left, where you will see LuminousTemple (Zhaomiao). Next to the Bright Temple, Studio of Tranquil Heart, down the path to the east, there is a clear lake. The other route goes to the southern part. Its main attractions include: Tranquility Green Lake, Shuangqing Villa, Ruins of Fragrant Temple, the Jade Flower Villa, the Ruins of Xiangshan (Fragrant Hills) and Incense Burner Peak. More information...

Scenic Spots
Fragrant is rich in cultural relics and historic sites and a lot of terraces, pavilions and pagodas are scattered there. among them ,there are Temple of Azure Clouds demonstrating a architecture combining Qing style an Ming style; The sole wooden gilding "500-arhat Hall" in the country; Bright Temple which was built in 1780 as a residence for the Sixth Bainqen Erdeni when he visited Beijing; Palace of Tranquil Heart which is characterized by South-styled elegance; Shuangqing Villa where Gaozehdong and the center of Chinese Communist Party 's office located when they entered Beijing; Temple of Azure Clouds Giant Throne Tower where Doc. Sunyetsin 's coffin was placed, Western Hills Snow which is more of Yanjing Eight Scenes. More details...