The countryside takes on a red hue for Fangshan visitors

Where squirrels and rabbits run amok, birds are on the wing and wine is in the barrels

The urban sprawl of high-rise buildings gradually gave way to lush green countryside and complete with a lake as we drove to Fangshan, about 35 kilometers southwest of the city center.

Fangshan is building up a reputation for itself as a green getaway where city dwellers blow away some of the cobwebs, but the nature of that reputation is slowly changing.