Fangshan County in the Valley (Part 2)

At this time, Fangshan County already included the original Fangshan, Langxiang, and Jingxi mining areas. After two divisions and mergers with the Yanshan District, its area exceeded 2,000 square kilometers, making it the third largest district in Beijing after Miyun and Huairou. In 1987, Fangshan County and Yanshan District merged to form Fangshan District. Ten years later, the Fangshan District government moved from the relatively remote Chengguan to Liangxiang, which has more convenient transportation.

The small Fangshan County has finally transformed into a large district in southwest Beijing with eight subdistricts, 14 towns, and six townships. The Beijing Subway Fangshan Line, which began opening in sections in 2010, allows Fangshan residents to reach the southwest Third Ring Road in about half an hour, while the Yanfang Line connects the two core areas of Yanfang and Liangxiang in Fangshan New City.

Fangshan has become more vibrant after improving its transportation infrastructure, which has also activated the rich tourism resources of this mountainous county. In 2006, the Fangshan Global Geopark was approved by UNESCO. Six of the eight parks in the geopark are located in Fangshan, including the karst peak cluster canyon Shidu, known as the "Little Guilin of the North," Shihua Cave, a typical representative of temperate karst caves worldwide, Baihua Mountain, with its main peak Baicaopan at an altitude of 2,049 meters, the third highest peak in Beijing, and Shenglianshan, which has rare Quaternary cave sedimentary relics.

Fangshan's cultural attractions are even more outstanding than its natural scenery: the "Origin of Man" Zhoukoudian Peking Man Site elevates Beijing's human history by 500,000 years, the "Origin of the City" Liulihe Western Zhou Yan Capital Site is considered the origin of Beijing's urban development, the "Origin of the Capital" Jin Dynasty Imperial Tombs provide more concrete evidence of Beijing's earliest capital history, and Yunju Temple, which houses tens of thousands of stone-carved Tripitaka, is known as the "Great Wall of Stone Carvings," giving Beijing two "Great Walls."

The once remote Fangshan has preserved its rare northern clear mountains and waters and simple folk culture due to inconvenient transportation, and now it has developed a sustainable green industry—tourism. In comparison, isn't it luckier than the northern and southern counties of Langfang, which have experienced ups and downs due to real estate?

Post by WorldlyVoyager | Jan 6, 2025