Mount Miaofeng

Situated in the Mentougou District west of Beijing City, Mount Miaofeng is 31 miles (50 kilometers) from central Beijing. It occupies an area of 4,900 acres (about 2,000 hectares). The highest peak in the mountain range is 4,236 feet (1,291 meters) high. It is famous for the Goddess Temple and its temple fair, well known in Beijing since ancient times. It boasts very beautiful sceneries all year round such as the Rose Sea. Mount Miaofeng is also an ideal choice for hike and cycling.

 There are numerous temples that enshrine and worship gods of Taoism, Buddhism etc, and thus Mount Miaofeng became one of the centers of beliefs in North China during the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) Dynasties. The most famous temple is the Goddess Temple, also known as Huiji Temple or Niangniang Temple.

The Goddess Temple was first built in the Liao Dynasty (916 - 1125), covering an area of 1,146 square yards (958 square meters). With Mountain Gate Palace as the door, its main buildings include the main hall Linggan Hall, Ksitigarbha Hall, Yaowang Hall, the Goddess of Mercy Hall, Matchmaker Hall, the God of Wealth Hall and Grandma Wang San Hall. There are statues of five goddesses in the main hall, with the Goddess of Miaofeng, also known as Goddess Bixia, standing in the middle. Three pieces of horizontal tablets, written by Empress Dowager Cixi (1835 - 1908) of Qing Dynasty to show her thanks to Goddess of Miaofeng, hang on the shrine before. It is believed that Empress Cixi came to this temple to pray for his son, Emperor Tongzhi, who then recovered from his illness.

Traditional temple fair at Miaofeng Mountain dates back to the Ming Dynasty and boasts a history of more than 300 years. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims around the country converge there to worship the god from lunar calendar April 1st to 15th. The temple fair integrates many activities like folk performance of pilgrims, appreciation of natural sceneries and market activities, with the objective of offering sacrifices to the Goddess of Miaofeng. There are five different ancient pilgrim routes, as in the Old North Road, the Middle North Road, the Middle Road, the Middle South Road and the South Road, all of which converge at the Jiangou Village at the foot of Miaofeng Mountain. The tea shed sites, stone rolls, old gas tanks and cliff inscriptions along the roads are worth enjoying.
 On the west side of the Goddess Temple, there is a valley whose entrance is shaped by two pieces of huge stones called "Ape Man Stone" and "Goddess Stone". It is reported that the Goddess Stone had protected the emple from a bomb blast; otherwise, there would not be a temple today.
 The Dayun Temple was built in the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907). It is said that Wu Zetian (the empress of the Tang Dynasty) ordered the monks in the temple to compile the Dayun Sutra to sing merits and praise virtues for her. An old clock stands in the ruins today.
 All kinds of flowers such as peach blossoms, roses and rhododendron blossom throughout the year; the most alluring of all is the Rose Sea. Mount Miaofeng is the "Rose Township" in China. The Rose Valley there and the Kazanlak Rose Valley in Bulgaria are the two largest rose valleys in the world. Roses there are of excellent quality, with big flower, thick petals, deep color and high oil content. A magnificent and attractive sea of rose emerges when thousands of acres of roses blossom all over the mountain. 

The Rose Festival is held in June and Peach Blossom Festival late April to early May yearly.
 1. Take Subway line 1 and get off at Pingguoyuan Station. Get out from Exit A. Take bus M05 (892 Jiangou Branch Line) and get off at the terminal station Jiangou Village. Then visitors can hike along the country road for about 1.5 hours or carpool with others to the entrance of Mt. Miaofeng. The single-trip cost for a car is about CNY 80. Note: M05 departs daily at 09:30, 14:00 and 17:40.
2. As there are only three M05 buses daily, visitors who miss M05 can take bus 929 from Pingguoyuan Subway Station and get off at Dingjiatan Station. Then hire a private car to the scenic area.
3. From the south square of Beijing West Railway Station, take bus 890 to Dingjiatan and then hire a private car.
Beijing Bus / Subway Search

Admission Fee	CNY 40 Free for children under 3.9 feet (1.2m).
Opening Hours	8:00 to 17:00
Best Time to Visit	March-May & September-November

 Other Attractions in Mentougou, Beijing:
 Jietai Temple (Ordination Terrace Temple)
 Tanzhe Temple (Pool and Mulberry Tree Temple)
 Eighteen Pools in West Beijing
 Baihua Mountain
 Cuandixia Village
 Lingshui Village

Further Reading: Where to Go in Beijing in Spring - Top 10 Destinations