Fragrant Hills Park (Xiangshan Park Beijing), located in the east part of western hills, 27 kilometers northwest of the Beijing City, It is a large park of hills and forest covering 160 hectares. Both its natural sceneries and cultural relics are abundant. Xianglu Peak, 558 meters high, is its highest peak.
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. In 1745, Emperor Qianlong (1711-1799) ordered the addition of many new halls, pavilions and gardens and gave it a new name, Jingyi Garden (Garden of Tranquility and Pleasure). Unfortunately, in 1860 and 1900 after the Summer Palace and the Yuanming Yuan (the Old Summer Palace) were set on fire, lots of relics in the Fragrant Hills were damaged by foreign troops. Since 1949, with a half-century's restoration and development by Chinese government, Fragrant Hills Park has been recognized as one of the ten most famous parks in Beijing.
The most spectacular natural scenery in the Fragrant Hills Park is the red smoke tree leaves over the mountains. When autumn arrives, fiery red leaves blanket the entire mountain. Every year, thousands of tourists come to the park. The cable cars are a great way to take in the beautiful scenes.
