The Chinese New Year of 2016 is around the corner, but have you ever learned that monkey is the focus of this Chinese lunar new year? According to Chinese tradition, there are 12 Zodiac images standing for each 12 years, and you may frequently hear Chinese people say: “I was born in the year of the mouse. I was born in the year of the rabbit.” Or they were born in other years which have their unique animal images.

The 12 images are mouse, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. Last year was the year of the sheep, and this year is the year of the monkey. In Beijing, there is a mountain where you can find monkeys and its name has “monkey” in it.

This mountain is called Tai Ping Hou Shan (太平猴山), which literally means Peaceful Monkey Mountain, situated in one of the most stunningly beautiful landscapes of Beijing---Shidu. There are some legendary stories about this mountain. For example, some say you may find the remains of those prehistorical creatures in the mountain.

It is reported that hundreds of wild macaques live in the mountain. This is a place which resembles the Flower and Fruit Mountain where the Monkey King lives in the book Jouney to the West. In reality, you can also encounter monkeys once you arrive in the mountain.

Address: Taiping Village, Shidu Town, Fangshan District, Beijing (北京房山区十渡镇太平村)

Getting there: Take Subway Fangshan Line (房山线) to Suzhuang (苏庄), get on Bus No. 41 to Zhangfang Middle School Station (张坊中学站), and get on Bus No. 17 to Xitaiping Station (西太平站).