The Western Hills () are the hills and mountains in the western part of

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

Geography

Being an extension of the Taihang mountain range from the

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and ...

Province, the Western Hills cover approximately 17% of the

municipality, including most of the Mentougou and Fangshan Districts as well as parts of

Changping Changping or Chang Ping, may refer to: Transportation *Changping station (Beijing Subway) (昌平), a subway station on Changping line of Beijing Subway. Located in Beijing. *Changping line (昌平线), a subway line of Beijing Subway *Changping r ...

, Haidian, and Shijingshan. The elevation of the Western Hills range is between 100 m to over 1900 m above sea level and is visible from the city on clear days. A mix of

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, a ...

and coniferous forests and highland meadows cover much of the Western Hills. Mountain streams feed into the Yongding and Juma Rivers, which flow through the Western Hills to irrigate the plains of Beijing.

Coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as stratum, rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen ...

is mined in Fangshan and Mentougou Districts. Natural and historical points of interest include river gorges, and hot springs, as well as temples, historic homes, secluded retreats and ancient ruins. Also known as the Western Hills Scenic Area, the area has long been used as a retreat by Chinese scholars, religious men, and members of the government and civil service. Nearest to Beijing's Haidian District is the Fragrant Hills Park. Nearby is the Beijing Botanical Garden and Temple of Azure Clouds. The Wofo Temple, which has a giant reclining

Buddha statue Much Buddhist art uses depictions of the historical Buddha, Gautama Buddha, which are known as Buddharūpa (literally, "Form of the Awakened One") in Sanskrit and Pali. These may be statues or other images such as paintings. The main figure i ...

, is located on the grounds of the botanical gardens. To the northwest of the Fragrant Hills Park are Jiufeng (Vulture Peak) Forest Park (鹫峰森林公园), Dajue Temple, and Fenghuanling (Phoenix Ridge) Scenic Area. South of the Fragrant Hills Park is Badachu (八大处; literally "eight great sites") in Shijingshan District, which is named after eight

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

temples and monasteries. The Western Hills of Shijinghan are also home to the Laoshan Mountain Bike Course, where the mountain biking competition of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games was held. Fossils of the

Peking Man Peking Man (''Homo erectus pekinensis'') is a subspecies of '' H. erectus'' which inhabited the Zhoukoudian Cave of northern China during the Middle Pleistocene. The first fossil, a tooth, was discovered in 1921, and the Zhoukoudian Cave has ...

were discovered in the caves of Dragon Bone Hill near

Zhoukoudian Zhoukoudian Area () is a town and an area located on the east Fangshan District, Beijing, China. It borders Nanjiao and Fozizhuang Townships to its north, Xiangyang, Chengguan and Yingfeng Subdistricts to its east, Shilou and Hangcunhe Towns ...

in Fangshan District. The Western Hills also houses an underground command center of the

Chinese military The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...

, a secret

bunker A bunker is a defensive military fortification designed to protect people and valued materials from falling bombs, artillery, or other attacks. Bunkers are almost always underground, in contrast to blockhouses which are mostly above ground. T ...

-like underground facility built with the assistance of the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

in the 1950s, which now serves a purpose similar to the

United States Military The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is ...

Pentagon In geometry, a pentagon (from the Greek language, Greek πέντε ''pente'' meaning ''five'' and γωνία ''gonia'' meaning ''angle'') is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple polygon, simple pentagon is ...

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also Romanization of Chinese, romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the List of national founde ...

briefly lived in the Western Hills, and the

Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party The Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party, formally known as the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and known as the Central Bureau before 1927, is the decision-making body of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). ...

retreated there briefly in 1989.

Western Hills Group

The

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

(KMT) also had a secret group named Western Hills, established in 1925. Revolutionary

Sun Yat-sen Sun Yat-sen (; also known by several other names; 12 November 1866 – 12 March 1925)Singtao daily. Saturday edition. 23 October 2010. section A18. Sun Yat-sen Xinhai revolution 100th anniversary edition . was a Chinese politician who serve ...

's coffin was kept there, with the group's members being Buddhist, believing that the presence of Sun Yat-sen's body could bless them. The group had a political goal of ousting the Communist Left, headed by Mikhail Borodin, from the KMT.Spense, The Search for Modern China, p.326

References

External links

Western Hills page
{{coord, 39.9908, N, 116.1725, E, source:ruwiki_region:CN_type:mountain, format=dms, display=title Landforms of Beijing Mountains of Beijing North China Plain Hills of China

Geography

Western Hills Group

See also

References

External links