Three days of howling northern winds have swept most of the season's red leaves off of trees in and around Beijing. So if you haven't taken action yet to view the gorgeous fall scenes local mountains are known for you may have to wait until next year.

 

The red leaves that make up several of Beijing's major autumn scenic spots – Badaling, the Fragrant Hill, Miaofengshan Mountain and Baiwanshan Mountain – have almost all fallen to the ground in the recent strong winds.

 

 

This, plus the fact that many mountain parks are paying more attention to fireproofing and are therefore closed to tourists, makes the time to view red leaves this year almost over.

 

The red leaves still hanging on trees now are not likely to remain longer than 10 days, if the weather forecast of a new round of strong winds and low temperatures for the next two or three days proves right.

 

With their main attraction demolished, once popular red leaves viewing tours in the past two weeks have come to a stop.

 

Travel agencies in Beijing have now turned their sights on winter sports, which will prevail during the capital's winter tourism season in the coming months.

 

 

(Xinhua News Agency November 10, 2006)