The chestnut sellers are back at the east gate, and the ridge behind them has started to turn. Beijing’s Xishan National Forest Park opened its fifteenth Red Leaf Culture Festival on 15 October, running to 15 November under a theme that pairs maple colour with Guofeng performance. The Guofeng and heritage-craft programme begins with an opening ceremony on 18 October, a day after a soft opening on the 17th. Beijing Changhua Forest Park Co. is the organiser.
The Trail Splits Into a Family Walk and a Photography Climb
Four viewpoints carry the season: Hongye Ridge, Hongye Canyon, Guixiao Stone and Banshan Pavilion. Two routes link them. The first starts at the east gate and stays gentle, threading the heritage-craft area and the autumn food market on the goldenrain-tree lawn before reaching Hongye Canyon and the Guixiao Stone photo point; it is built for families and older visitors. The second is a photographer’s route across the high ground at Banshan Pavilion, Hongye Ridge and Guixiao Stone, which sits at 473 metres. Recommended shooting positions are marked along the way, with the light described separately for sunrise, afternoon and dusk.
What makes the pairing work is timing rather than decoration. The warm end of the leaf spectrum sits well against gold-thread and tonal jacquard cloth in a photograph, and a Hanfu parade gives the park a moving subject at exactly the hour when the ridge is backlit. Hanfu here is not stage costume: the stone steps, the timber frame of Banshan Pavilion and the rock face at Guixiao Stone are the actual walking and shooting conditions. Northern scenic areas have leaned on this pairing for several autumns now, and the reason is straightforward. The park supplies backdrop and narrative; the clothing supplies participation and dwell time.
Performances Run Only at Weekends
Everything clothing-related sits inside the weekends. Folk music, ancient-style dance, Hanfu parades and Neo-Chinese runway shows rotate through the festival period, alongside static displays and hands-on stations for paper-cutting, dough figurine and straw weaving, where visitors can work at the table themselves.
The rest of the programme is timed to the calendar rather than the weekend. The autumn food culture festival runs daily, with Beijing snacks, seasonal drinks, park meals and farm produce from the western hills, and roasted chestnuts, candied hawthorn and pear syrup as the seasonal staples. A harvest-themed family event takes the forest stage lawn on 24 October and 7 November, with games, nature talks and parent-child activities. Art courses in Chinese painting from life, leaf craft and calligraphy run on 25 October and on 1, 8 and 15 November.
A photo and short-video contest runs alongside, judged on Douyin: post a clip or set from the park with its official hashtag and a tag to the park’s account, and 100 likes on a single post converts to one entry ticket, with 80,000 likes carrying a cash prize of 10,000 yuan. Peak colour is expected from mid-October into early November. Anyone who wants the parade rather than just the leaves should plan around a weekend, since weekdays offer the food market and both walking routes but no performances.
Fares, Hours and Fire Rules
Gates are open from 7:00 to 21:00, with daytime ticket checks closing at 18:00; entry after that is free. An adult ticket is 10 yuan and the concession is 5 yuan for children and students, covering ages six to eighteen and full-time study up to bachelor level. Bus 61 terminates at the park; routes 318, 360 and 698 stop at Nanhetan, about 200 metres from the gate. Drivers navigate to the east gate, where a public car park sits outside the boundary.
One rule overrides the rest of the planning. The park is a first-class fire-prevention unit, and no flame, lighter or stove goes up the hill. Rangers enforce it at the gate and on the trail, and the check is why bags are searched at entry.
