Fragrant Hills, aka Xiang Shan

This past Saturday after getting Aubree to the airport, I decided to visit Fragrant Hills, or XiangShan, a park west of Beijing known for its beautiful red foliage in the fall.  It is too well known, in that all of Beijing tries to go in November to see them, so I thought I'd be clever and beat the crowds by going super-early, since we got up at 4 am to get Aubree to the airport.  I managed to find the park, and to an extent, did have some quiet moments in a much-emptier park than had I arrived at noon.

A beautiful lake near the entrance to the park

A very tall Buddhist structure on the way up to the summit

I decided to tackle the trek up the mountain first, passing beautiful lakes with pagodas, tall temples, and various paths all leading upwards before truly getting to the stair-climb.  Despite it being 50 degrees I was hot and in shirt-sleeves by the time I arrived at the top!  There were spectacular views of Beijing and the surrounding hills from the top, and although I wouldn't call the red leaves spectacular, the hillsides were still very pretty and multi-colored.  

3/4 of the way up Xiang Shan

On the chairlift on the way down

I rode down the hill on the chairlift for a different perspective (and I figured I'd already gotten my exercise).  When I got to the bottom, I noticed the park was already beginning to fill with people, and I decided to try to find a temple called 'Azure Cloud Temple' near the north gate….and walked…and walked…and somehow managed to completely leave the park's grounds and ended up in a little village with no one around.  I could still see the chairlift, however, so I managed to work my way back to the entrance - only to meet the crowds I had been trying to avoid.  It was wall-to-wall people, and it took me 30 minutes to re-enter the park, when it had taken 5 minutes earlier!

The Azure Cloud Temple when I finally found it, was pretty impressive.

I still wanted to see the Xiangshan Hotel, designed by I.M.Pei, (designer of the Louvre Pyramid among other buildings) and it was a hidden treasure.  The architecture was really delightful and through the lobby was a small garden grotto, with a small lake, water wheel, waterfall, and barely any people.  Somehow the hordes outside the hotel gate missed the open garden behind, which was a blessing.  I actually fell asleep on a swinging bench in the hotel garden!

The lobby of the Xiang Shan hotel

A waterfall in the hotel grotto

Unfortunately, the day ended worse than it began, as something I ate at lunch did not agree with me, but I can still remember the beautiful scenery and tranquil stillness in the hotel grotto, somehow untouched by the surrounding frenetic masses of Beijing.