Tucked away in a mountainous area west of Beijing, the district of Fangshan is putting itself on the tourist map.

Lying some 65 kilometers from downtown Beijing, it has set the scene for an annual Fangshan Tourism and Culture Festival.

The festival, the 10th of its kind, is now underway. Tourism activities and new travel resorts have opened for visitors during the one-month festival.

Shenglian Mountain Scenic Spot, another newly opened travel destination, includes several natural limestone caves.

Boasting already well-known visitor spots like Shidu, underground limestone caves and the Peking Man Site, Fangshan has developed rapidly in terms of transportation and tourism infrastructure.

Shidu: water, mountains, forest and sports

Sometimes dubbed "the Guilin of the North," Shidu Scenic Spot is located along the middle-upper reaches of Juma River, 100 kilometers from the city. There are 10 river bends along this segment of the river, on each of which a ferry crossing was set up. Hence the name Shidu means "10 ferry crossings" in Chinese.

Shidu is the only natural scenic spot in north China that is characterized by karst peak forests and river valley topography.

There is beautiful scenery on each ferry crossing. The varied terrain -- the winding river course, deep here and shallow there, broad here and narrow there, and the rolling hills, sometimes undulating sharply and sometimes slightly -- forms the distinctive style of the scenic spot.

Convenient amenities make Shidu a very attractive tourist resort. To date, nearly 200 films and TV programmes have chosen Shidu for location shooting.

Bungee jumping is a more recent attraction of the area. It claims to be the first place to offer a bungee facility for adventurers in China.

The 48-meter jumping platform was built in 1997. It costs 150 yuan (US$18.3) for one jump. Another 55-meter jumping platform was built beside it in 1998 and one jump costs 180 yuan (US$22).

To get to Shidu: Bus 917 and Tourist Bus 10 go there each day from Tianqiao and Qianmen Bus 17 terminus.

Tel: 6134-0841 (Chinese language only)

The area's cool underground caves are ideal places for adventurers to escape the summer heat. Limestone caves can be found in many mountains in Fangshan. But most caves around Beijing are undeveloped without any safety facilities.

So far, Fangshan has four limestone caves open for visitors: Shihua, Yinhu, Xianqi and Yunshui.

Xianqi cave is located in Shidu Scenic Spot , in the southwest of Fangshan. Visitors can enjoy stalactites, cobbles, stone curtains, pillars and flowers inside the cave.

Admission: 20 yuan (US$2.4)

Tel: 6134-9240.

Shihua (Stone-flower) Cave

The cave has six closely linked floors. But only two floors, measuring a total of 1,222 meters in length, are open to the public.

The cave is full of stalactites that look like plants and animals, such as monkeys, lions and peacocks. There is also a cauliflower-shaped crystal-clear stalactite, the first of its kind ever found in a Chinese limestone cave.

Admission: 35 yuan (US$4.2) for the first two storeys; 70 yuan (US$8.40) for all four.

To get there: take bus 917 from Tianqiao to Fangshan Station, in Fangshan District or take tourist bus 7 (Youqi) at Qianmen, near the station of bus 22 or at Fuchengmen, near the station of bus 335, between 6 and 8 am each weekend.

Yinhu Cave

Yinhu (Silver Fox Cave) is a limestone cave similar to Shihua. The cave is believed to be about 6,000 meters long and is the largest of its kind in North China. Only half has been explored and opened to tourists.

The most-noted likeness there is the silver fox which gives the cave its name.

The fox 'hides' in a small hole at the side of the cave. It is a two-meter-long crystal that looks like a furry silver fox hanging upside down from the cave wall.

A subterranean river also runs through the cave. A 350-meter section is wide enough for a boat and visitors can take a fantasy ride along the river.

Admission: 26 yuan (US$3) for cave and 15 yuan (US$1.8) for the underground river boat ride.

Take bus 917 at Qianmen.

Tel: 8037-7936.

Peking Man Site

In contrast to other historical and cultural relics inscribed in the World Heritage List, the Peking Man site has not developed into popular travel spots in the way that tourist magnets like the Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace have.

About 48 kilometers southwest of downtown Beijing near Longgushan (Dragon Skeleton Mountain), the Peking Man discovery at Zhoukoudian is of great significance. The sites date the cultural history of Beijing back 600,000 years. It is considered one of the birthplaces of civilization.

You can see the actual caves in which Peking Man and Hilltop Caveman lived.

To get there: You can take a bus to the site. It takes around one-and-a-half hours. Visiting the relics and hiking the mountains will take at least four hours. Restaurants can be found near the sites serving fare from local farm houses or a hotel, depending how much you want to spend.

Bus 917 at Tianqiao gets you to Zhoukoudian Station. From there you can start your hike.

Cost: For bus, the ticket is 4 yuan (48 US cents). The entrance ticket for the Relics site is 20 yuan (US$2.4).

(Beijing Weekend June 25, 2004)