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The western hills rising up next to town look steep from the bottom but the ChinFanLing on the peaks at various elevations prove it's climbable and also give you something to aim for as you blaze your own path up the more mild inclinations. A network of trails leading off from the Thangka sunning terrace behind the Monastery is a good place to start and leads to some reasonably mellow slopes that will get you high enough to see lofty snow peaked mountains in the distance.
隆务寺
This active Gelukpa (Yellow Hat) monastery sprawls around the foot of Xishan Mountain on the south-west edge of town. Behind the exterior walls, embedded with squeaking prayer wheels, is a blend of Chinese and Tibetan style halls and monks residences that are easy to get lost in for a few hours. The monastery was established in 1301 and greatly expanded during the Ming Dynasty. Though some of the halls and their resident Buddhas have been rebuilt multiple times over their 700-year history, everything that stands today dates from the late 1980s after the ruination of the Cultural Revolution. Don't let the lack of antiquity put you off as the present neglect of upkeep lends the architecture a beaten aesthetic with its own charm. The Future Buddha Hall holds a large Jampa (Maitreya) statue in an elaborately decorated 3-storey hall. The fortress like Hall of Bodhisattva Manjusri is said to hold a Avalokiteshvara from 1644 that survived the 1960s destruction, possibly because the door is rarely opened for anyone to see it.