Qionglong Mountain in Autumn

If you just want to see red maple leaves, you don't have to go all the way to Kyoto. There are many places to see maple leaves in China. The most famous place to see red maple leaves in Suzhou is Tianping Mountain, but the traffic jams during the red maple season are unbearable. So, I decided to visit Qionglong Mountain before my leisure annual pass expired this weekend. Qionglong Mountain, described by Emperor Qianlong as "36,000 hectares of spring breeze and autumn moon," is located in the western suburbs of Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China, and is the highest mountain on the east bank of Taihu Lake. Since there is no direct subway, I had to drive there. The road conditions were good, and when I reached South Qionglong Road, I saw the green hills on both sides of the road and the autumn scenery. When I arrived, I found that there were quite a few cars in the parking lot, and many cars were parked crookedly near the green belt on the roadside. However, the scenic area is relatively large, so the number of people is not too bad. Entering the Sun Wu Cultural Park from the south gate, you can visit the Sun Tzu Art of War Museum, which has three exhibition halls. The museum has a long history, and the scenery outside is colorful. The distant mountains are like ink, the nearby water is misty, and the maple leaves are as red as the sunset. What's more, the scenery is beautiful and there are few people. The main attractions of Qionglong Mountain include Sun Wu Garden, Zhu Maichen Reading Platform, Wanghu Garden, Shangzhen Temple, Ningbang Temple, and Wanyue Platform. Although Shangzhen Temple is a reconstruction, it is still quite distinctive as a Taoist architectural complex on the top of the mountain, and it is worth a visit if you have time. If you don't want to climb the mountain, you can walk along the forest trail at the foot of the mountain and breathe in the negative ions. There is a children's playground at the foot of the mountain, which is a good place to take your kids. The noise level there is higher than that of a kindergarten entrance. Although it was sunny today, the temperature was a bit low. I smelled the faint fragrance of wax plum on the mountain road, floating in the cold air. The autumn scenery of Qionglong Mountain is endless, and winter is coming soon.