Autumn at the Summer Palace in Beijing. [Photo by SONG JIAYIN/FOR CHINA DAILY]

List published

The Beijing Gardening and Greening Bureau recently published a list of 19 parks and scenic sites it recommends to enjoy the colors of autumn.

Fragrant Hills, Ditan Park and Jinhaihu Lake have long been traditional spots for seasonal sightseeing. In addition, the bureau now recommends Xishan National Forest Park in the western suburbs, Olympic Forest Park in the north of the city and Central Green Forest Park in eastern Beijing.

Xishan National Forest Park boasts a vast area of trees, most of which have dark red leaves in autumn.

From late October to late November at Olympic Forest Park, a range of trees, including purpleblow maple, Chinese ash, golden rains and smoke trees, add to the colors of autumn, along with a range of flowers.

The bureau said that this autumn, visitors can see some 100,000 trees with colorful leaves in the park, which is located just to the north and south of the North Fifth Ring Road.

To allow more visitors to witness the beauty of autumn in Beijing, the bureau will slow work to clear the falling leaves.

Zhang Bo, senior engineer at the bureau, said the work to prolong greenery in the city and introduce more colorful plants is the biggest science and technology project of its kind.

"Beijing has about 1,700 types of plants growing naturally. However, only 100 to 200 varieties have been widely used in the past," he said. "These plants can make the city green, but are not sufficient to make it more colorful."

During the past five years, the bureau has selected 85 types of plant from the 1,700 and the work to plant them in the city has been stepped up, Zhang said.