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 Best Places to see Fall Foliage in Shanghai

Best Places to see Fall Foliage in Shanghai

Written by Kelly PangUpdated Oct. 7, 2023

Nanjing Qixia Mountain

Qixia Mountain Nanjing Qixia Mountain

Best sightseeing time: the most beautiful autumnal scenery season of Qixia Mountain comes at the end of November and the beginning of December.

Qixia Mountain stands in Qixia Town, about 13.6 miles from the northeastern Nanjing City. During the late autumn, the red autumnal leaves are as red as roses, and the whole entire is storied dye. Many Nanjing families enjoy going for a look during this season.

Red autumnal leaves on the mountain are well known throughout the country. It is one of the best places to see autumn leaves in China. When there are dews in late autumns, the entire hill is storied dye, as if pink clouds fill the sky. Several pretty green pines are mixed with consecutive maple trees, adding a special lingering charm to the hill.

The Taixu pavilion is second to none for watching the red autumnal leaves at Qixia Mountain. Because it is in the heart of the maple forest, maples surround the pavilion. Looking ahead, you'll find a continuous stream of maple trees, which are all red and in full swing: red, scarlet, pink and pink, colorful and structured.

Opening Hours: 6:30am-5:30pm.

Also Read Shanghai's Top 7 Attractions for Autumn Outings

Transportation guide:

By train: you can take the EMU to Nanjing, and take the Mo Nan line at Nanjing Hanfu Street (at the gate of the President's Office Residence), the terminal off the Mo Nan line is Qixia Hill, tickets go for 2.5 yuan, and operation hours are 06:00 am to 7:00 pm. You can also take the Nan Long line or the Nan Shang Line at Nanjing Railway station and get off at Qixia Mountain Railway Station.

Nanjing is around two hours' ride by train from Shanghai. A day trip from Shanghai to the mountain is possible. Let's China Highlights help you customize a fall color trip from Shanghai.

Tianping Hill of Suzhou

The best sightseeing time: the end of November

Tianping Hill is 8.7 miles from western Suzhou Town, and its west part is about five miles from Old Suzhou Town (highway mileage is about 9.3 miles). The red leaves in Suzhou Tianpingshan Hill, together with Nanjing Qixia Mountain , Beijing Fragrant Hill and Tachuan, close to Huangshan are four ideal places for enjoying red leaves in China. Every year when the dew arrives, all red leaves on the hill turn it into a red ocean, and the unique autumnal scenery takes shape. See best places to see fall foliage in China.

The altitude of the hill is about 221meters, and it has long been famous for its red maples, clean springs and grotesque rock formations. Suzhou has formed a custom of "watching red maples in Octobers". The piedmont of Tianpingshan Hill is crowded with maples, of which 400 old trees are more than hundreds of years old and more than 30 meters in height, with two persons encircle in thick and upright branches. It is said that they were transplanted from the Fujian Province by the 17th grandson of Fan Zhongyan (a great poet and liberator in Chinese history) during the Wanli Period of the Ming Dynasty (1573-1620), and they are different from many maples in south China. The leaves of these maples are triangular in shape, and do not turn red all at once when they are wet from the dew. Instead, they turn yellow from green, to orange, and then purple, so they are also called find-color maples. Climbing to Wangfeng Stage in the middle part of the hill to watch the maples gives you another special feeling. The colors of the trees are first red at the top, and then the colors gradually change from the top to the foot. Seen from a certain distance, strands of pink clouds seem to fly to the top of the mountain, and a magnificent and changing perspective creates a great and wonderful scene on the hill.

Transportation: take Tourist Bus 4 to Tianpingshan Hill at Suzhou Railway Station.

Continue to read best places to see fall foliage in China.

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