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Ritan Park Mystery
the tree you're thinking of might be the old weeping willow by the northeast gate, near the children's playground. there's a stone marker there that got moved in the 2008 renovation and the blogging crowd kinda conflated it with the wish tree thing. i walk Ritan most mornings and the ribbons cluster on that one way more than anywhere else. worth a shot before you give up on it.
honestly the willow thing is mostly a myth, or at least nobody i know has ever found a specific one. Ritan is full of old willows along the east side near the altar wall, people tie red ribbons on plenty of them, especially around Lunar New Year. the "legendary" one prob got invented online somewhere and now everyone goes looking. if u want the wish thing just pick any old tree by the water and do it, locals do that anyway.
I've only been to Ritan a couple of times on trips, so take this as a visitor's take rather than local knowledge. What struck me is that the wish-ribbon thing isn't really a Ritan tradition at all, it's a general Chinese custom that shows up at temples and old trees everywhere, so people just graft it onto whatever park they're standing in. If you want the actual ritual rather than the internet version, the ribbons are usually tied on the first or fifteenth of the lunar month, and you're meant to walk a full clockwise circle around the tree first. That detail almost never makes it into the blog posts, which is probably why the whole thing feels so slippery when you try to pin it down.
best photo spots in beijing?
olympic forest park is slept on fr. the linden trees along the main axis go gold in late october and the bird's nest reflection in the lake at sunrise is nuts, barely anyone there on weekdays. also check out 798 art district on a weekday morning, the old factory pipes and graffiti make great contrast shots. tbh bring a wider lens than u think you need, everything in beijing is bigger than it looks in photos
everyone goes for the big landmarks but honestly the best shots i got were from the overpasses on the 3rd ring road at dusk, just traffic light trails with CCTV tower lit up in the background. also guomao at blue hour from the silk street footbridge, the CBD towers all glassy & orange, tripod helps cuz u need a slow shutter. one thing nobody mentions, air quality totally changes your photos so check the AQI app the night before, a clear day after rain is worth waiting for
For sunrise the Temple of Heaven east gate area is underrated, locals doing tai chi around 5:30am with the morning fog, way better than fighting crowds at Tiananmen. For sunset honestly just walk along the canal near Shichahai, the reflections off the water with the Drum Tower behind are hard to beat. Bring a tripod if you can, the good light only lasts like 20 mins this time of year.
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