Tianqiaogou has some of the most beautiful autumn scenery around, with the brightest of red maples anywhere in China. If you haven't been to Tianqiaogou, autumn is the best time, when it’s dressed up in its autumn finery. It’s a completely "red" world, an enormously colorful kingdom full of beauty from the valleys to the peak.

The first Tianqiaogou Maple Festival was held in 2004, and has turned into an important, renowned, annual tourist festival.

There is a unique mountain-shaped gate engraved with white Chinese characters at the entrance to Tianqiaogou, an imposing sight among the tree-covered mountains and bright water. It has a name inscribed on it, that of the poet Zang Kejia, which gives it an air of fascination.

Just as you stand there focusing on the scenery, you spy a large boulder reclining in the mountain stream, connecting two mountainsides, a natural stone bridge, but one wrought with extremely fine craftsmanship. Hence the name "Tianqiaogou", or “Heavenly Bridge Ravine”.

When you walk along the clear, zigzagging stream, you can see maple trees in the distance providing a red backdrop, with maple leaves in front of you in emerald and pearl colors. The branches sway gently in the breeze and the tree shadows are as shy and curvaceous as a girl playing with her dress.