Event date: 7th December 2006
The Kangxi, Qianlong and Jiaqing emperors often spent several months a year here to escape the summer heat in the capital city of Beijing and the palace zone in the southern part of the resort was therefore designed to resemble the Forbidden City in Beijing. It consists of two parts: a court in front, where the emperor received high officials, nobles of various minority nationalities, and foreign envoys. The bed chambers are in the rear, which were the imperial family's living quarters. The Jiaqing and Xianfeng emperors both died while staying at Chengde in 1820 and 1861 respectively.
The view in Chengde's mountainous resort is breathtaking though the trees were all almost naked without its leafs, frozen lake, dried grass and temperature down to negative degree. Below photo was what I wish to describe in picture.
The Mountain Resort in Chengde
literally mean "Mountain Villa for Avoiding the
Heat"
is a large complex of imperial palaces and gardens situated in the city of Chengde, Hebei Province, China. Because of its
vast and rich collection of Chinese landscapes
and architecture, the Mountain Resort in many ways
is a culmination of all the variety of gardens, pagodas, temples and palaces
from various regions of China. Appropriate season to come here would be in summer, not winter.
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| Our group photo at the entrance point |
Built between 1703 and 1792 during the Qing Dynasty,
the Mountain Resort took 89 years to complete. It covers a total area of 5.6
square kilometres, almost half of Chengde's urban area. 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.
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| Hubby was wearing a Chinese hat found at the roadside bazaar during our journey yesterday |
The Kangxi, Qianlong and Jiaqing emperors often spent several months a year here to escape the summer heat in the capital city of Beijing and the palace zone in the southern part of the resort was therefore designed to resemble the Forbidden City in Beijing. It consists of two parts: a court in front, where the emperor received high officials, nobles of various minority nationalities, and foreign envoys. The bed chambers are in the rear, which were the imperial family's living quarters. The Jiaqing and Xianfeng emperors both died while staying at Chengde in 1820 and 1861 respectively.
The Mountain Resort is most famous for the 72 scenic spots which were named
by the Kangxi and Qianlong emperors. Many of the scenic spots around the
resorts lake area were copied from famous landscaped gardens in southern
China. For instance, the main building on the Green Lotus Island, "Tower
of Mist and Rain," is
modeled upon a tower in Nanhu Lake at Jiaxing in Zhejiang
Province.
The resorts plain area also possesses characteristics of the scenery of the
Mongolian grasslands
Forested mountains and valleys are dotted with various buildings. This includes
a 70 metres tall stone Chinese
pagoda, one of the tallest in China, built in 1751 during the reign of the Qianlong
Emperor. The pagoda is shaped with an octagonal base,
while the pagoda's nine stories are decorated with colorful glazed
tiles and the steeple is crowned with a gilded round spire.
In December 1994 the Mountain Resort was listed by UNESCO on its list
of World Heritage Sites. There are a museum displaying a fine porcelains and other belongings of imperial palace. Some of the display are in below photo.
Finally, I wish to record the tour and our children's excitement taking a ride at the big resort and it's lakes and parks.
Finally, I wish to record the tour and our children's excitement taking a ride at the big resort and it's lakes and parks.
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