Best Places to See Fall Foliage in Beijing (Tips, Photos & Map)

Best Time to See Fall Colours in Beijing

Plan your Beijing tour in Autumn? Beijing is at its best in autumn with blue sky, comfy sunshine and colorful leaves.

The best time to see the foliage in Beijing spans about one month ranging from October 15 to November 15.

Best Places to View Fall Foliage in Beijing

There are many places to view fall foliage in Beijing including the mountainous areas ( Fragrant Hill ), the sections of the Great Wall (Mutianyu Great Wall) and some of the downtown parks (Ditan Park).

Among them, Fragrant Hill is unanimously considered as the most ideal place to view autumn leaves in Beijing.

Best Place for Seeing Autumn Leaves downtown Beijing

If you are scared of the huge crowds of domestic visitors at Fragrant Hill or don't want to go up to the mountains or the Great Wall outside Beijing city proper, and would rather have a leisure time viewing the autumn leaves in downtown Beijing, Ditan Park ( The Temple of Earth ) is definitely one of your best options.

Check out How to Visit Ditan Park (Tips, Photos & Map) for more travel information on Ditan Park.

The Temple of Earth once served as the place where the emperors in Ming and Qing Dynasties offered sacrifices to the God of Earth. In 1957, the temple was turned into a public park names as "Temple of Earth Park" - Ditan Park in Chinese.

Tips for viewing fall leaves in Ditan Park

1. Entrance Fee: RMB 2 per person
2. Opening hours: 06:00 – 21:00
3. How to get there By Subway: Take Subway Line 2 or Subway Line 5 to Yonghegong Station (Lama Temple Station), come out of the station at Exit A (northwest exit). You can see the entrance to the park then.

By Bus: Take Bus No. 18, 75, 104, 108, 113, 119, 201, 328, 407, 426, 430, 558, 特2 to Ditan Ximen Stop Take Bus No. 117, 125 to Ditan Dongmen Stop

4. Which gate for the foliage The park is fairly large with an area of 37.4 hectars sectioned into several parts. Among them, Peony Garden is the best place to see foliage in the park. Peony Garden is by the east gate. So entry into the east gate is most convenient for you to see the autumn leaves in the park. The main gate is South Gate, just north of Lama Temple.

5. Don't scared of the crowds outside Peony Garden Very often the park administration would organize various kinds of events or activities during the golden autumn tim in Beijing. At the time writing, the "First Beijing Intangible Cultural Heritage Fair" is being held in the park.

Plenty of vendors sell all kinds of Beijing local stuff ranging from eating, wearing to cultural artifacts. Each event will attract huge crowds of local residents. But Peony Garden remains a quite and romantic place for you to have a low pace of life here.

Follow Me to Have a Virtual Tour of Ditan Park in Colors

Today is Oct 31, a sunny and azure day with the highest temperature 20 degree Celsius. I went to the Temple of Earth for photo taking. Below are some of the pictures taken around noon inside the Peony Garden of Ditan Park.

hopefully you would like them and help you understand a bit about the leisure life the local people as well as expats enjoy against the backdrop of the busy, cosmopolitan city.