Yangtianshan Scenic Area Guide

Where to See Autumn Leaves in Yangtianshan After the Frost Descends Yangtianshan is a great scenic spot for autumn viewing, especially suitable for self-driving tours, as you can drive into the mountains and enjoy the scenery along the way. Tickets: 55 online (+70 for Lingze Cave), 70 offline (+100 for Lingze Cave). Vehicle entry: 10/vehicle. Navigate to the east gate of the scenic area. Normally, you can enter from the east and exit from the west, but recently a section of the road on the west exit is under construction and closed, so you can only enter and exit from the east gate for now. Soon after entering, you'll reach Wenshu Temple (the rear hall is still under construction). Following the map (Figure 7), you can pass by Wenchang Pavilion, Guanyin Cave, Xianren Cave, Foguang Cliff, Wangyue Pavilion, Qianfo Cave, and the Pagoda Forest, then return to the parking lot. This loop takes about half an hour. Only Qianfo Cave is worth a visit; the other attractions are so unremarkable that you wouldn't even notice them without the signs. Driving up Jiulongpan is quite enjoyable. Parking at the Jiulong Stele allows you to see the entire winding mountain road. Lingze Cave is said to require descending a long flight of stairs. Since I've seen quite a few caves recently, I chose to skip this attraction. Here's the highlight: You can drive all the way to Fangyunge Pavilion, then walk through the red leaf forest to Shengxiantai. This is the most beautiful section for viewing autumn leaves. Missing this would be a real shame. This section takes more than an hour round trip. Driving to the Qi Great Wall, Yaochi (Figure 6) seems like a joke, the forest bathing area is a small unpowered amusement park, and the Qi Great Wall ruins are optional and quite underwhelming. This road is where the Qi Great Wall originally stood; the rest is left to your imagination. The total tour took more than three hours, with no traffic jams or crowds. I heard that Shimenfang was extremely crowded today. The cloudy and foggy weather somewhat affected the view, but next week should still be a good time to see the autumn leaves. Go for it!