Autumn in Beijing

Written by Matteo Updated Jun. 12, 2025

Autumn is associated with dullness because of the falling of leaves, but if you visit Beijing, you are bound to change your idea about autumn. Beijing at its best falls in autumn - clear sky, pleasant weather, and eyeful colors. Autumn is the best time to see fall foliage and observe the color change.

Beijing has thousands of hectares of foliage in its surrounding mountains, which are covered with maple, Smoke trees, torch trees, ginkgo, and more. Though the exact timing of the color change varies year to year, the peak time to see fall foliage in Beijing usually occurs from mid-October to mid-November. During that time, Beijing's mountainous areas, the parks, and even an unknown name street throughout Beijing are blanketed in a palette of yellows, oranges, and reds.

Meanwhile, autumn is the best time to hike along the Great Wall as sections of the Great Wall are densely covered by verdant trees. In golden autumn, trekking on the ancient fortification along with a eyeful of nature's colors and bright shades is truly amazing.

Outside of Beijing, other cities such as Guilin, Jiuzhaigou, Huangshan, Suzhou, and Hangzhou in China have the most picturesque autumns. Get an eyeful of nature's painted canvas! Plan a fall foliage getaway to capture this beauty with us - some pre-arranged Beijing Fall Tours as well as the customized tours per your specific request.

Best Places to See Ginkgo Trees in Beijing

Beijing Diaoyutai Ginkgo Boulevard

Beijing Diaoyutai Ginkgo Boulevard is the most famous place to observe the beautiful yellow ginkgo. Ginkgo is an ancient tree that has a history of several hundred years or even a thousand years. In the fall season, ginkgo trees on both sides of the boulevard all turn golden yellow. A lot of shutterbugs came here to take photos of the ginkgo trees.

Sanlitun Xiwu Street East

Here is the Embassy District, a quiet place though it is very close to the east Third Ring Road - the bustling area. It doesn't have the green land like Diaoyutai, but it always has a soldier wearing olive green standing straight along the road.

Temple of Earth Park

Beijing Temple of Earth Park is located on the northern side of the Lama Temple. It enjoys beautiful sights at different seasons, especially autumn, because ginkgo leaves turn yellow in the Temple of Earth Park, making the tourist spot full of beauty. Some people think the trees here are more ancient than those beside Diaoyutai. Strolling among the ginkgo trees is an enjoyment.

Peking University

It might be a little bit different to see ginkgo trees in Peking University's campus, because there are so many students around, drawing, reading, and chatting. The campus with those ginkgo trees makes it a picturesque place.

Eight Great Sites Park

It is a very good choice to Eight Great Sites Park to see the ginkgo trees in fall. The ginkgo trees in the Eight Great Sites Park are mainly distributed around the temples. Most of them are more than 100 years old, especially those two in front of the Temple of Great Mercy are more than 800 years old.

Best Places to See Red Maple Leaves in Beijing

Fragrant Hills Park

The red autumnal leaf is one of the top 16 new Beijing attractions, and Fragrant Hill Park is one of the top 4 best places to see the red maple leaves. Except for the red maple trees, another highlight of Fragrant Hills Park is the ginkgo trees. When you realize the ginkgo leaves are falling, they've made a ginkgo boulevard already.

Badaling National Forest Park

The Badaling Forest Park is next to the Badaling Great Wall. The famous Red Leaves Hill is located here. The altitude there is 500 meters higher than downtown Beijing, making the place cooler in autumn, and the leaves are easier to turn red. Badaling Forest Park is always the first place to watch leaves turning red in early autumn. The red leaves scenic cover an area of 65 hectares.

Great Wall Hiking in Autumn

Create My Trip

We are here to help you...
start planning your tailor-made China tour with 1-1 help from our travel advisors.

Create Your Trip