Visitors show off their maple-leave-shaped headwear in the Fragrant Hills.[Photo by Wang Zhuangfei/China Daily]

Warm days and pleasant weather mean autumn is an excellent time for outdoor recreation. At the weekends, joggers swarm the city's parks, bikers flock to the hills on the outskirts of the city and hikers throng to the ancient temple roads, scenic ridgelines and off-the-beaten-track valley floors. Ornithologists head to the city's myriad wetlands in search of migrating birds.

Autumn is also the harvest season. At the city's fruit markets, shoppers can find grapes from the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, apples from Shandong province, pomegranates from Yunnan province and pears and fresh Chinese dates from Shanxi and Hebei provinces. It's also the time to enjoy just harvested chestnuts, roasted on street corners around the city.