Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Chengde
承德
, chéngdé
Relatively quiet and small for a Chinese city, unassuming
CHENGDE
boasts a highly col-
ourful history. Though the town itself is bland, on its fringes lie some of the most magnificent
examples of imperial architecture in China, remnants from its glory days as the summer re-
treat of the Manchu emperors. Gorgeous temples punctuate the cabbage fields around town,
and a palace-and-park hill complex,
BishuShanzhuang
, covers an area nearly as large as the
town itself. In recent years Chengde has once more become a summer haven, justly popular
with weekending Beijingers escaping the capital.
Bishu Shanzhuang lies in the north of the town, while farther north and to the east, on the
other side of the river, stand a series of imposing
temples
. The majority of Chengde's one-
million-strong population live in a semi-rural suburban sprawl to the south of the centre, leav-
ing the city itself fairly small-scale - the new high-rises on its traffic-clogged main artery,
Nanyingzi Dajie
, have yet to obscure the view of distant mountains and fields.
