Southern China's Most Beautiful Maple Destination: The Colorful Qixia Mountain in Nanjing, Like a Fairy-Tale World

Nanjing Qixia Mountain is one of China's four best maple-viewing destinations. In late autumn, Nanjing's most stunning beauty is the maple leaves. Walking along the tree-lined paths of Qixia Mountain, the maple leaves on both sides are as red as flames, covering the entire mountain with layers of fiery color. The leaves have all turned crimson; Qixia Mountain quietly ushers in its most beautiful moment of the year, with the red leaves entering a rapid color-changing period. The mountain is blanketed with red leaves, burning like fire, breathtaking, like a beautiful painting. Currently, the varieties with the highest color change rates are red maple, liquidambar, and zelkova. Sunlit spots, waterside areas, and the sides of main paths show even higher color change rates. At this moment, Qixia Mountain is a riot of color, especially enchanting against blue sky and white clouds. If you don't go to see the maple leaves now, you'll have to wait until next year.

Qixia Mountain, located in Nanjing's Qixia District, was anciently called Sheshan. Later it was named after the Qixia Temple built within the mountain. It is acclaimed as 'the finest scenic mountain in Jinling'. Already a famous maple-viewing spot as early as the Ming Dynasty, it is counted among China's four great maple-viewing sites along with Beijing's Fragrant Hills, Suzhou's Tianping Mountain, and Changsha's Yuelu Mountain. Every autumn, the maple leaves across Qixia Mountain gradually turn from green to red, drawing countless visitors.

Prime Time for Maple Viewing – Miss It and Wait a Year

Nanjing's Qixia Mountain maple leaves are at their peak redness. Step into the mountain and you'll be greeted by a sea of red leaves, burning like fire, overwhelmingly beautiful, like a painting unfolding before your eyes. Ancient buildings with red walls and grey tiles are set off by the fiery maple forest, setting the whole of Qixia Mountain and all of Jinling aglow. Monks walk by inadvertently, adding a Zen touch. In deep autumn, Qixia Mountain is a kaleidoscope of colors, with dancing light and shadow. The entire mountain range turns red; climbing up and looking far, the spectacle is magnificent, the scenery irresistible and utterly enchanting.

On the weekend, I took my little sister to see the maple leaves. These might be the last few days of peak red leaves this year; miss it and you'll have to wait another year. We seized the best viewing window to fully enjoy Nanjing's finest maple destination. I'd been to Nanjing before but this was my first visit to Qixia Mountain. Last time, the leaves hadn't turned red yet, and I'd been longing for this trip. Now I've finally made it. After entering the gate, on the left, there are several rows of wind chimes covered with blessing wishes. These chimes are transparent glass, tinkling with the breeze.

Walking along the main path, you see maple leaves fiery red on both sides. We caught the perfect viewing time. Qixia Mountain's maple beauty lies in the variety of species, and the serene backdrop of temples adds to its charm. Strolling there, you feel like you're in a fairy-tale world, autumn's essence fully expressed. If you ask where Nanjing's most beautiful autumn spot is, the answer is surely Qixia Mountain. Today, it didn't disappoint – though there were quite a few visitors.

Maple Viewing Begins with the Ancient Qixia Temple from the Southern Dynasties

To view maples at Qixia Mountain, you must first pass by Qixia Temple at the western foot of the middle peak. First built during the Southern Dynasties, the temple has a history of over 1,500 years. During the Southern Dynasties, it was as famous as Dingchan Temple and Jiming Temple. In the Tang Dynasty, it stood alongside Guoqing Temple in Zhejiang, Lingyan Temple in Shandong, and Yuquan Temple in Hubei as one of China's four great temples, holding a significant place in Chinese Buddhist history. In front of the temple is a pond, and under blue sky and white clouds, the red maple leaves reflected in the water are breathtakingly beautiful.

Best Maple-Viewing Spot #1: Red Leaf Valley

Qixia Mountain is quite large, and especially during peak foliage season, visitors abound. After passing Qixia Temple, we headed uphill to the first prime spot: Red Leaf Valley. There's a pond here. As the sun was about to set, warm sunlight glowed on the maple leaves and sparked beautiful reflections in the pond. The multicolored foliage was stunning. Visitors snapped photos with their phones, wanting to capture the beauty both in their devices and in their memories. The evening sunlight was so warm, felt like spring on our faces. We lingered in this gorgeous maple forest, reluctant to leave the finest autumn scenery.

Best Maple-Viewing Spot #2: Thousand Buddha Crags

Following the main road uphill, you'll see maple leaves as red as fire everywhere, with some leaves still turning from yellow to red. Looking around, the layered forest is fully dyed, overwhelmingly beautiful. Qixia Mountain boasts many maple varieties, including common red maple, trident maple, Japanese maple, fullmoon maple, and Amur maple, among others, with over 500,000 maple trees—a grand scale befitting a premier maple-viewing destination in Jiangnan. Every year, multitudes of visitors come to admire the leaves. In fact, each 'best' viewing point just happened to have the reddest leaves at the time we visited. Everyone has their own favorite spot; the beauty you find in your heart is the real beauty.

We passed a road in front of a temple and found the reddest maple leaves there. My little sister couldn't wait to take photos. The ground was littered with beautiful red leaves; picking up a maple leaf and holding it in hand made for a casual but pretty shot, even more so against the backdrop of red leaves. For maple viewing here, I recommend wearing white or dark-colored clothes that contrast with the leaves for better photos. Some maple trees are tall—don't miss looking up at the leaves, the view is even more beautiful. Changing your perspective reveals a different kind of beauty. Looking up, the scenery is even more stunning.

The Most Photogenic Maple Spot Turns Out to Be: Peach Blossom Lake

If you're looking for the most beautiful maple photo spot on Qixia Mountain, I'd say you can capture lovely scenes anywhere. But some places have maples blazing red like fire, making for even better shots. With green and orange tones around, it's more layered. After we finished shooting above, we were heading to Peach Blossom Lake and discovered that nearby, a few maple trees were in peak splendor. Many aunties were already taking photos; we hurried over and it was truly gorgeous. Even more tourists were queuing for photos. When our turn came, it drew the surrounding aunties and uncles to photograph my little sister, saying she was very pretty and her outfit matched the maple leaves perfectly.

When my little sister sat down, the photo turned out really beautiful. Against the fiery red maple leaves, with a small pond behind, maple branches stretching over the water and reflected beautifully, the scene was breathtaking. The most beautiful scenery was right before our eyes. Stepping here was like walking into a colorful fairy tale, amazing us with nature's wonders, like a painting come to life. Absolutely stunning. We definitely made the right choice to come this time; miss it and wait another year.

Along the way, we saw many parents bringing their children to see the maples. The kids' cute smiling faces, holding maple leaves, made for charming autumn photos. The path was filled with laughter and joy as children experienced the beauty of nature through the maple leaves.

Insta-Worthy Photo Spot: The Red Gate

Just a short walk from the main entrance, there's a gate of a Buddhist academy. It features a bright red door, looking newly painted. White clothes match perfectly here. There are maple leaves by the gate too. Sitting in front of the red door creates a different kind of scene. We shot here on our way out and saw some other young ladies taking photos.

The red gate with white clothes is truly a perfect match. Qixia Mountain reveals different colors at every moment; in a few days, the scenery might change again. As the seasons shift, maple leaves go from green to red to falling—a true palette of nature. How can such autumn beauty not make one linger?

Nanjing's Qixia Mountain showcases autumn's beauty to the fullest. Strolling through the avenues lined with crimson maple leaves, you can't help but exclaim how stunning it is. Qixia Mountain in autumn is picturesque. Autumn isn't just golden; it's the fiery red of maples covering the hills. All along the way, both sides are draped in red, as if brushed with rouge—the colder it gets, the redder they become. I was enchanted by this captivating scenery, lost among the beautiful maple leaves. Miss it, and wait another year.