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The park was built in the Jin Dynasty (1186). The park is open all year around but the best time to visit it is in autumn, when all the leaves turn red/orange colour and it will just leave you mesmerized. Běijīng Zhíwùyuán (Beijing Botanical Gardens), are located next to the foot of Xiāngshān. It's a world away from the hustle and bustle of the city centre, and would be ideal for anyone who wants to while away their time in beautiful surroundings, including the greenhouse and a special rose garden that contains at least five types of rose flower. Quite romantic too!

After spending the day at Xiāngshān and Běijīng Zhíwùyuán, it would provide a nice ending to the day if you visited the town of Wu Dao Kou - an area near the Tsinghua and Beijing Universities, popular with tourists, foreign students and expats alike. There are a myriad of restaurants of all different types of cuisines (including Indian, Italian and Mexican). There are also some nice Japanese and Korean restaurants where you can drink authentic Japanese or Korean beer over a nice meal.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19445 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16786
What makes the temple unique is the century-old trees - line upon line of Chinese cypress, Chinese juniper and scholar trees. Some of the cypresses are more than 600 years old. Dr Henry Kissinger, when he visited the temple, stated that while the USA could recreate the Temple of Heaven if it desired, it could not create the trees!]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16786 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16590
On to Xinjiang and the heavenly mountains of Tianshan and Kunlin with Central Asian peoples that have persisted here for centuries. Have a look at the photographs here:

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