Mangshan Forest Park, Nature park in Shisanling, China

Mangshan Forest Park covers 8,578.93 hectares in Changping District, about 35 km from Beijing, making it the city's largest national forest park. Its name comes from the mountain ridges that resemble a large python. At the 659-metre summit stands the 37-metre Mangshan Tower, originally a fire lookout and now open to visitors.

Mangshan became a national forest park and was named a national green-civilisation education base for young people by the China Working Committee for Care of the Next Generation in October 1998. In June 2000 it was designated an ecological education base under the national Protect the Mother River campaign, followed in October 2000 by a Beijing science education base designation. The Beijing Parks Bureau classified it a first-class Beijing park in May 2002.

The park's Great Buddha area holds a 9.9-metre stone Maitreya Buddha, described as Beijing's largest stone sculpture and made by a renowned artist. Nearby are sculptures of the 12 zodiac animals. On the fan-shaped platform, a tree-planting memorial pavilion and a stele inscribed with Deng Xiaoping's words stand among dozens of monuments to central work units and Chinese-foreign friendship tree plantings.

The park is best visited on clear days when views from higher elevations are best and walking on the stepped terrain is most comfortable. Sturdy footwear is important since steep stone stairways connect different levels and natural terrain requires steady footing.

The 37-metre Mangshan Tower at the 659-metre summit was first built as a forest-fire lookout and now admits visitors; it has five storeys outside and six inside. The upper painted corridor, 150 metres long, is described as Beijing's highest painted corridor, and the 3,666 stone slabs of the climbing stairway as its longest mountain stairway.