This year's Fragrant Hills Red Leaves Festival will span 31 days, making it the longest in the event's 24-year history and prompting authorities to boost transport services to accommodate more than 1 million predicted visitors.
Warm temperatures were forecast for the festival, which begins this Friday and runs until November 11.
"We estimate nearly 1.5 million visitors will attend this year's festival compared with 1.3 million last year. Attendance figures will peak at the end of October and in early November," Wu Lijia, the park's media officer, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
The park has unveiled a series of measures to ease congestion of traffic and crowds during the festival in order to ensure visitors' safety.
"We will cooperate with police to ensure visitors' safety and arrange staff to direct traffic and crowds on the hills. All visitors will be required to ascend from the north and descend from the south to maintain order," Wu said.
He also suggested all visitors pay close attention to their own safety.
"Every year, maple leaves attract many foreigners who sometimes let their spirit of adventure override their physical capability to climb the mountain. We advise everyone to be mindful of their limits," he noted, adding visitors are forbidden from picking leaves from tree branches.
The capital's main bus operator, Beijing Public Transport Holdings, has announced it will increase the number of buses along 11 routes going to the park during the month-long festival.
"Shuttle buses will be used during the festival to transport tourists from the Xiangquan roundabout to the east gate of the park," a media officer from the company, who declined to give his name, told the Global Times.
While many people shun the Fragrant Hills to avoid massive crowds during autumn when leaves on the park's trees turn a vibrant red, others believe it's worth braving the congestion to admire nature's beauty.
"You can see red leaves only during this season, so there isn't much alternative," Ji Yan, a Beijing resident, told the Global Times.
