HALF-PRICE tickets, free entrance, 1-yuan garden visiting ... Tourist sites across China are promoting enticing favorable ticket policies, most of which will last till the end of this year. This article will introduce eight places with splendid autumn scenery among the many destinations with attractive entrance tickets.

From Suzhou gardens with fragrant osmanthus to the UNESCO World Heritage Site Wuyi Mountain, this list provides a clear idea for your autumn traveling plan.

Qingdao offers more than

just a sea view

Driving east from the central area of Qingdao for a bit over 20 minutes and you will reach Laoshan District, where people can feel autumn earlier than other places in the city. After the autumnal equinox, spectacular autumn views begin to show up across Laoshan, with splashes of yellow, orange and red mingling along the rolling mountainsides. The best places for appreciating the wonderful colors of autumn include the Jufeng and Hualou scenic sites of the Laoshan Mountain Scenic Area, and Taiqing Palace, which is also full of antique flavor.

Some people comment that the most beautiful place in Qingdao is Badaguan (Eight Great Passes), whose most beautiful moment is in deep autumn. Located near the coastline of the city, Badaguan was built during the German concession. There are eight avenues named after mountain passes that intersect the Great Wall, hence its name. Two more roads were added in the 1930s. Called the “streets of flowers,” the area is well known for its garden villas and Western-style buildings.

Favorable ticket policy

Entrance tickets of some of the 5A tourist sites in Shandong Province including the Laoshan Mountain Scenic Area enjoy enticing discounts of 50 percent or more off from now to Dec. 31, excepting statutory holidays.

World Cultural and Natural Heritage Site Wuyi Mountain

Mogan Mountain is not the only must-visit mountain in the Jiangsu-Zhejiang-Shanghai 3-hour vacation circle. Wuyi Mountain, a World Cultural and Natural Heritage Site, is definitely worth visiting as well.

Covered by lush bamboo forests, Wuyi Mountain serves as a nice reclusive palace featuring cloud sea, rice terraces, ancient villages and tea gardens. It is well known for its abundance of deep canyons, dense forests, waterfalls, animals (many of them endangered), flora and fauna.

When autumn approaches, the maple leaves turn red, ginkgo leaves fall and fly around, and osmanthus flowers give off a sweet fragrance in this area. The rock tea making technique of Wuyi Mountain is rated as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Favorable ticket policy

People aged 50 and above can enjoy discount tickets to visit the Wuyi Mountain resort from now to Dec. 31 excepting statutory holidays.

Wutai Mountain

Sitting in northwestern Shanxi Province, Wutai Mountain, along with Sichuan’s Emei Mountain, Anhui’s Jiuhua Mountain, and Zhejiang’s Putuo Mountain, is one of the four sacred Buddhist mountains in China.

Wutai Mountain is also home to one of China’s oldest Buddhist temple sites. Nanchan Temple and Foguang Temple, as China’s earliest timber architectures, represent the civilization of the Tang Dynasty (618-907).

Covering 593 square kilometers, Wutai Mountain is named after its five peaks which resemble five giant columns rising from the earth. Crowded with peaks and cliffs, the area enters autumn as early as the end of September. Yellow leaves falling down against the background of the tiles of multiple temples add a nice touch to the Zen feeling.

Favorable ticket policy

A total of 130 A-grade and higher tourist attractions in Shanxi Province offer free first-gate admission from Monday to Friday in the second half of this year.

Fanjing Mountain

Located in Tongren City, Guizhou Province, Fanjing Mountain is the only habitat for the Guizhou golden monkey, a key region for the distribution of Fanjing Mountain firs, the most abundant area for gymnosperm in the world, and the most important protected area for beech forests in Asia.

It was identified as the world’s most well-preserved primeval forest, with 4,394 kinds of plants and 2,767 kinds of animals, making it one of the most abundant in the Oriental deciduous forest biological areas.

Favorable ticket policy

All the A-grade and higher tourist attractions in Guizhou Province enjoy a 50-percent off discount from now to Dec. 31 this year.  (Chen Xiaochun)