Chengde Emperor's Summer Resort
Location: Chengde, Hebei Province
Transportation: Bus service
Culture/History Rating: 4.5/5
Scenery Rating: 4/5
Hotels: N/A
Summary: The Mountain Resort (the Qing dynasty's summer palace), in Hebei Province, was built between 1703 and 1792. It is a vast complex of palaces and administrative and ceremonial buildings. Temples of various architectural styles and imperial gardens blend harmoniously into a landscape of lakes, pastureland and forests. In addition to its aesthetic interest, the Mountain Resort is a rare historic vestige of the final development of feudal society in China. - UNESCO
Description:
| The city of Chengde in northeastern Hebei Province is the site of the summer resort of the Qing emperors. It is about 200 kilometers from Beijing and is easily accessible by either train or long-distance bus. The magnificent Mountain Resort and the 12 Buddhist temples at its periphery were built during the Qing Dynasty, the last feudal chinese dynasty. It served as the second political center of the Qing imperial court and the emperors of the early Qing Dynasty often spent their summers there, conducting state affairs and engaging in important political activities. The Mountain Resort and its temples and palaces have made chengde a famous historical and cultural city, and one of china's leading scenic spots. |  |
 | The construction of the Mountain Resort took place over a period of 90 years-startingfrom the 42nd year of Emperor Kangxi's reign (1703), rebuilt and expanded during the reign of Emperor Qianlong, and completed in the 57th year of Emperor Qianlong's reign (1792). It is China's largest existing imperial garden, covering an area of 5.64 milllion sq. m., double that of the Summer Palace, and eight times that of Beihai Park in Beijing. The 1O-km. wall around It winds its way through plains and high mountains like the Great Wall. There are more than 90 towers and pavilions scattered around the Mountain Resort as well as small bridges, inscriptions on precipices, rockeries of various sizes, many gates, horizontal inscribed boards, palaces , terraces and other buildings. |
| Chengde was, for a time, the second political and cultural center for the Qing. Today it is better known for its Mountain Summer Resort, the world's largest classical imperial garden resort, and the Eight Outer Temples, the leading imperial religious establishment in China. The formidable Jinshanling section of the Great Wall is in Chengde, which also has such bio-tourist resources as the Royal Mulan Hunting Ground and large expanses of forests and grassland. The grassland at Fengning is billed as the best of its kind north of Beijing. It took 87 years (1703-1790) for the 5.64 million-square-metre Mountain Summer Resort north of Chengde to be completed as the exclusive summering place for Qing emperors. |  |
 | The Mountain Summer Resort, and the Eight Outer Temples that are scattered around it, were designated as world cultural heritage sites in 1994. Every year visitors go in droves to the resort and the temples. The Chengde Tourist Festival and the Forest and Grassland Holidaymaking Festival are held there on an annual basis. The Eight Outer Temples were built in groups on the eastern and northern slopes of the Mountain Resort. The glistening gilded tiles and grandiose construction show a harmonic combination of many architectural styles. |