Yesterday, the Xiangshan Red Leaf Culture Festival, themed “Prosperity & Red,” kicked off. During the festival, the park has meticulously created eight themed scenic areas, organized five cultural exhibitions, launched five visitor interaction activities, and set up four leisure zones to offer a feast of red leaf culture.
On the 12th, with the red leaf color change rate reaching 12%, the 24th “Prosperity & Red” Xiangshan Red Leaf Culture Festival commenced and will run until November 11. This year, Xiangshan Park is introducing five historic sites for red leaf viewing for the first time, which are expected to be ready for visitors by next weekend.
As of yesterday, the red leaf color change rate at Xiangshan was 12%, and visitors can already enjoy the initial hues of red in areas such as the Old Pine Forest and Xianglu Peak. According to the Xiangshan Park Red Leaf Phenology Observation Team, abundant rainfall this year is expected to result in better growth and viewing conditions for the red leaves compared to previous years, showcasing vibrant, rich, and lustrous colors. Although the festival started on the same date as last year, due to smaller day-night temperature differences recently, the leaves have changed color later this year—last year, the change rate had already reached 20% by this time. To make it convenient for visitors, the park will release the red leaf color change index and recommend the best viewing spots twice a week during the festival.
In the first half of the year, the restoration project of the Twenty-Eight Scenic Spots of Jingyi Garden, represented by Xiangshan Temple, was initiated. For this red leaf culture festival, Xiangshan Park, drawing on the Twenty-Eight Scenic Spots, is introducing five historic sites for red leaf viewing for the first time. Among them, “Qing Weiliao” is located atop the hill south of Jingcui Lake, built during the Qing Dynasty’s Qianlong reign. Visitors can climb steps along the east bank of Jingcui Lake to get an up-close view of the red leaves. “Kan Yun Qi” is a four-cornered scenic pavilion situated east of Xunlu Slope, embodying the poetic meaning “When you reach the end of the water, sit and watch the clouds rise,” surrounded by red leaf forests. “Sen Yu Hu” sits atop the steep cliffs of Senyu Rock. After climbing over 200 steps, you’ll reach this octagonal scenic pavilion, which offers the best close-up views of the red leaves. “Yu Hua Xiu” is located halfway up the mountain at Xiangshan. Leaning on the railing and looking south, you’ll see mulberry and catalpa trees in autumn, interspersed among pines, cypresses, and red leaves. “Ge Yun Zhong” is located west of the glazed pagoda at Zhao Temple, a four-cornered pyramidal square pavilion where you can admire the red leaves on the northern hills and also take in distant mountain views.
Xiangshan Park also recommends four “red leaf viewing” routes: Enter through the east gate, turn left, and pass by Jingcui Lake, Cuiwei Pavilion, Shuangqing Villa, Xiangshan Temple, Langfeng Pavilion, Heshun Gate, and Yutai Gate to reach Xianglu Peak—this was the imperial path used by ancient emperors to hike and enjoy the scenery. For those with limited time, enter through the east gate, where you’ll immediately see two lush maple trees, then walk south for five minutes to reach Jingcui Lake, and continue uphill along the stone path for 200 meters to enjoy the view of “red leaves and yellow flowers across the river” at Cuiwei Pavilion. Take the sightseeing cable car for 17 minutes to reach the summit at Xianglu Peak, where you can admire the red leaves on the southern hills along the way. Walk along the southern city wall from the “Qing Weiliao” site to see red leaves on both sides of the path—many iconic photos of Xiangshan’s red leaves have been taken here—and follow the path to Xianglu Peak.
During the Red Leaf Culture Festival, the ticket price for Xiangshan Park is 10 yuan, with opening hours from 6:00 to 18:30. Biyun Temple is open from 8:00 to 16:30. On the five upcoming weekends (today and tomorrow, the 20th and 21st, the 27th and 28th, November 3rd and 4th, and November 10th and 11th), visitors holding annual, seasonal, or monthly passes as well as senior citizen discount cards can enter the park between 6:00–9:00 and 16:00–18:30.
Xiangshan Park anticipates that weekends will be peak periods for red leaf viewing and advises visitors to come between Monday and Friday if possible. On October 27th and 28th, November 3rd and 4th, the park will implement one-way crowd control measures from opening until closing—specifically, the hiking trail from the lower cable car station to the upper station (Xianglu Peak) will allow only uphill traffic. This measure will be lifted after 15:00. Additionally, security personnel will be stationed at key locations across the park, with three new high-priority monitored spots added: Biyun Temple’s Arhat Hall, Vajra Throne Pagoda, and Zhao Temple, bringing the total to 17 monitored locations.
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Xiangshan Selected as a World Famous Mountain
Yesterday, Xiangshan Park officially joined the World Federation of Mountain Clubs (WFMC), making Xiangshan China’s fifth mountain to be included in the global list of world famous mountains.
The WFMC was established in October 2009 by 12 famous mountains and one association from 10 countries, initiated in Lushan. Its goal is to establish long-term cooperation on mountain environmental protection, tourism development, and mutual exchange to promote sustainable development of famous mountains. The association is a non-profit civil organization, with Lushan as its permanent headquarters.
In June this year, Xiangshan was approved as the 28th member of the WFMC, becoming China’s fifth world famous mountain following Lushan, Taishan, Huangshan, and Emei Mountain.