Imperial Fragrance Sightseeing & Picking Garden

Imperial Fragrance Sightseeing & Picking Garden

The picking garden is planning to set up a farm tools exhibition, focusing mainly on fruit picking with some educational elements, making it quite suitable for parents to bring their children. The venue offers free space for group activities. The scenery during picking is also pleasant, as the garden is particularly spacious, with views on both the east and west sides. For example, walking west allows you to gaze at the "Clear Snow on Western Hills," while looking east lets you admire Yuquan Mountain in the distance.

The entrance sign of the picking garden is uniquely designed, with the three characters for "Imperial Fragrance Garden" mounted on three agricultural sieves as the base. On either side of the gate stand several-meter-high imitation grain silos. The person in charge explained that this symbolizes a bountiful harvest. Interestingly, there are even heated kang beds inside the silos. It turns out the owner plans to use them as accommodation for visitors in the future, and more such silo-style lodging areas will be built in the open spaces.

The garden has some farm tools on display, which feels quite novel. The farm tools exhibition hasn’t started yet, but I’ve already seen many interesting items, such as various rotary mills and pump wells. The owner said that during the picking season, they will put up explanatory signs detailing the origins and evolution of these tools.

The scale of fruit picking in the garden is also quite large, with wide views and a rich variety of produce. The cherry trees are divided into three areas. The ones near the road are mature fruit-bearing trees, with some early-ripening varieties already ready for picking. Heading east to the middle area, the most common cherry variety is the Weng cherry, which features large fruit size, soft juicy flesh, high sweetness, and good storage capacity. These are not yet fully ripe and will need to wait until early June. There’s also a small area planted with small cherry trees that haven’t borne fruit yet—visitors will have to wait another four or five years, which makes one realize just how much effort goes into enjoying a single cherry.

Related Information

Address: East side of Hanhe Road, Xiangshan, Haidian District.

010-62590135

Price: 80 yuan per jin, no admission fee.

Picking Season: May 20 – June 10

Transportation: By car, take West Fourth Ring Road to Sihaiqiao Exit, head toward Xiangshan, turn right onto Hanhe Road and drive 1.5 km; it’s located opposite Wan’an Cemetery. By bus, take bus lines 331, 505, 634, 630, Special Line 5, 696, or Yuntong 112 to Wan’an Cemetery Station, then walk 10 minutes along Hanhe Road to reach the location opposite Wan’an Cemetery.

Facilities: Upon entering the garden, there are hand-washing basins. During the picking season, mineral water and cigarettes will be available for sale. Notably, mineral water is sold at a fixed price of one yuan per bottle, with no price hikes. There will also be four to five mobile restrooms available for use. The garden can accommodate up to 200 vehicles for parking.

Other: In addition to cherries, the garden will offer a variety of fruits for picking from June to November, such as apricots, plums, peaches, strawberries, and winter jujubes. Apricots will be ripe in June.