Beijing/Western and Southern Suburbs

Mentougou

Public transport service from central Beiing to Mentougou is mainly based on buses, many of them starting from Pingguoyuan (western final stop of subway line 1). Buses 336 and 931 run from Pingguoyuan (苹果园 píngguǒyuán) to Hetan (河滩 hétān) in Mentougou District. From there bus lines to most places of interest in the area can be taken. However, for trips from Beijing city, renting a taxi for a day might be easier and less time intensive. A Suburban Railway Line to Mentougou is in planning.

Daxing

The Beijing Subway has a total of 3 lines that pass through Daxing District. The Daxing Airport Express connects the Daxing International Airport to the rest of the Beijing Subway. The Daxing Line of the Beijing Subway is an extension of Line 4 from Fengtai District and serves 10 stations along Daxing District.

Mentougou

• Tanzhe TempleBuddhist temple dating back as far as the Western Jin Dynasty (more than 1600 years ago). It is one of the oldest and largest temples in Beijing. The site is especially beautiful to visit in April when the surrounding Magnolia trees are in full bloom.

• Jietai Temple

  phone: +86 10 69806611
  Though not as popular and well-visited as Tanzhe Temple, this smaller Buddhist temple is definitely worth a visit. It was originally built about 1400 years ago, but its most famous features have been added later during Ming and Qing dynasties. A special attraction of this site are the huge pine trees, some of them being hundreds of years old.

• Mt. Lingshan Scenic ResortWith 2300 meters in height, Mt.Lingshan is the highest mountain in Beijing.

• CuandixiaA beautiful ancient mountain village. It is very small, only around 70 traditional court yards. It is renovated nicely and seems rather authentic. Go in the weekdays if you want peace and quiet. In the summer months the climate is nicer than in Beijing because of the cooler mountain air. In the winter it could be cold, but the beds are heated, so it is still possible to go. Do at least an overnight trip or you will spend most of your time in the bus and not have time to enjoy the peace in the beautiful village. You can easily spend one day in the village walking around on the mountain paths. You can spend the next day or two visiting and staying in the nearby village Baiyu and more ancient villages and scenic spots a little further away.

• BaiyuA village with 100-200 traditional court yards, which are in the process of being renovated in a nice and authentic way (June 2009). Baiyu is still rather unexplored, but it has plenty of guesthouses to sleep and eat in. Quality is good, prices low, the scenery is beautiful and the people friendly. Baiyu is about 6 km from the more well known ancient mountain village Cuandixia, so combining a visit to both places is a good idea. It costs ¥30 for tourists to enter the Cuandixia area.

Fangshan

• Peking Man Site

  address: Zhoukoudian
  A UNESCO World Heritage Site and landmark site in paleoanthropology. The site is comprised of the caves of the Peking Man evacuation and a nearby museum containing plaster casts of the recovered skulls, mandibles, facial bones, limbs, and teeth. Peking Man is actually a collection of fossils of around 40 individuals of the species Homo erectus, dated from 770,000 to 230,000 years ago. The Peking Man fossils stored in Beijing disappeared in 1941 during the Second Sino-Japanese War. The missing fossils are one of the "long-standing mysteries in the history of human evolution."

• Shidu Scenic Spot

• Mt. Shangfang National Forest ParkWith an area covering more than 300 hectares, this is the biggest National Forest Park in North China. There are nine caves, 12 peaks and 72 temples to discover in this park. The most famous are:

• Cloud and Water CaveBeautiful 613 meters long carst cave, featuring the highest (37 meters) stalagmite in China.

• Tianzhu Peak

• Yunju Temple

Pofengling

address: Zhoukoudian

The mountain is one of the nicest scenic spots in Beijing for autumn colors.For a brief flickering moment the mountain side turns completely red. But expect the leaves to be gone within 1 week. Ideal time to enjoy the "Red Leaves Hill" is around the first week of November.

Daxing

• China Printing Museum

  address: 25 North Xinghua Road, Huangcun Town,黄村兴华北路25号

Budget

• Youth Holiday Hotel

  phone: +86 106789 5716
  address: 6 South Guiyuan Road, Daxing District (大兴区圆南路6号; Dàxīngqū Yuánnánlù
  Rooms with free internet and purified water. Business center, gift shop, beauty salon, ticket office, laundry service, karaoke, fitness facilities, and massage available. Chinese restaurant and room service.

Mid-range

• Yucaotang InnOwned and run by an elderly friendly couple cooking great local meals.

• Nyingma Guesthouse

  address: 14 Shengde Lu.
  OK twin-bed rooms for ¥40. 25 January 2008.

Splurge