Imperial Summer Palace of Mountain Resort, Hebei, China

4nationalb 5:00 PM Nov 30, 2010

Great for All Types of Travelers from Families to Outdoorsy/Hiking Types
Chendge Mountain Resort rewards the traveler who has come from Beijing, perhaps by crowded bus, to visit its grounds. The resort is in the mountains, so has temples located up in the hills. You can climb to these or take a short tour by a cart you can buy a ticket for by the main entrance. In the hills, you will see lots of deer and birds. These were the old hunting grounds for the emperor to do his hunting and you can clearly see the appeal of this land. The other part of the resort can be viewed leisurely on foot and includes a lake and the palaces. There are plenty of historical markings in Chinese and English. There were people playing traditional instruments, which added to the experience of the palace. If you like hiking, you can climb to pagodas on hilltops for stunning views of Chengde city. You could easily visit this place all day long and still have more to view. The town itself is lively and great to walk around in the day and evening. There are outlying temples that you can hire a taxi cheaply to visit. There is also sledge hammer peak and other outdoor attractions. Keep in mind that very little english is spoken here. When I went, I ran into three girls who were teaching English there but not any other Westerners. The people were friendly and helpful and really enjoyed taking my picture.

4JFChristin 5:00 PM Apr 4, 2015

A landmark of Chinese history
It's an important place to measure the achievement and life of the Qing density emperors; we did it in April, advantage being that it is low season, but not as magnificent as it should be when the gardens are green...