Western Hills of Beijing
Even though I would say Beijing is pretty flat, but the city is just next to mountains, small hills of Taihang Mountain chain touch the suburb of Beijing in the north and west direction, they are visible in the clear days, beyond the mountains in the north (where are famous for the Great Wall), there stretches the Inner Mongolia Plateau, in very hot summer days, just drive alone with the Jing-Zhang Express Way, 3 hours you can feel the cool breeze from grassland.
For the nearest hill to go in a daily excursion, most of Beijingers would choose to go the Western Hill, they are close by and convenient to reach, the recently finished Subway Line 4 will take you very close to there. The hills range in elevation about 500-600 meters above sea level, is very suitable for climbing up, and most importantly the area is rich with natural and historical points of interests: the Fragrant Hill Park is most renowned for its autumn leaves, the Beijing Botanical Garden is a nice spot for photographying in early spring, the Temple of the Reclining Buddha (Wofosi) is best known for its giant reclining Budda, in the Temple of Azure Clouds keeps a well preserved Vajrasana Throne Tower (there is another similar build at the Five-Pagoda Temple Wutasi), and in the south side of the hill, locates the Park with 8 temples – Badachu Park, it was a very popular place for the Beijingers in the ancient days.
View Beijing Western Hill in a larger map
