The 2025 Fragrant Hills Red Leaf Festival is underway and will run until November 11. To accommodate tourist travel, Xijiao Line has increased its capacity, with trains departing at least every 5 minutes. Eight regular bus routes in the Fragrant Hills area have also increased their transport capacity.

Xijiao Line, which serves as a major transit route for autumn red leaf tour, operates up to 18 trains during the peak foliage-viewing period. It sees 300 trips daily with a minimum departure interval of 5 minutes, achieving a maximum hourly transport capacity of over 6,000 passengers.

Meanwhile, during this peak period, Bagou Station has reconfigured its fare gates to allow for eight entry channels in the morning. Fragrant Hills Station will open a dedicated channel for group ticket holders during the return peak period and increase its number of security check channels from one to two.

Additionally, eight regular bus routes in the Fragrant Hills area — namely 318, 360, 360 Express, 505, 563, 630, 698, and 932 — will simultaneously increase their transport capacity. Key transport hubs, such as Beigongmen Subway Station, Xiyuan Public Transport Hub, the east gate of Fragrant Hills Park, and Xiangquan Roundabout, will have high-capacity articulated buses in place. Additional short-route services for the bus route 563 will also be added as needed, running from the subway stations of Beigongmen and Xi Yuan to Fragrant Hills.

In response to the changes in passenger flow brought about by the newly built public parking lot near Wofo Temple, Beijing Public Transport has introduced a "park and ride" model for the first time. Specifically, the eight bus routes mentioned above will add a temporary stop west of the south exit/entrance of Wofosi East Road. Tourists can park their cars in the parking lot at the foot of the mountain and transfer to shuttle buses to go up the mountain. During the afternoon return peak period, additional shuttle buses will depart from the Fragrant Hills East Gate terminal, so as to ensure that visitors can reach the public parking lot with ease. Depending on the situation, extra short-route services will be added between the east gate of Fragrant Hills Park and the south exit/entrance of Wofosi East Road to ensure efficient transfers.

In addition, Beijing police have added over 1,000 parking spaces on the periphery of the Fragrant Hills scenic area, with designated zones for buses and passenger vehicles to alleviate parking shortages during peak periods.

Beijing police remind visitors to check the official website of the Fragrant Hills Park in advance for the information on crowd control measures, reservation requirements, and off-peak visiting arrangements. Visitors are required to purchase their tickets through official channels to avoid scalpers and prevent possible scams. For guided tours, visitors should choose licensed travel agencies and be wary of "unreasonably cheap tours" and unauthorized day-trip scams.

(Sources: Beijing Daily, The Beijing News)