One of the Gates at the Mountain Resort 避暑山庄 in Chengde 承德
Another city another UNESCO world heritage site. Beijing seems to be in a very good location as it has several world heritage sites within its vicinity. The nearby city of Chengde is two hours away by expressway from Beijing and is home to another world heritage site – the Mountain Resort in Chengde 避暑山庄. The Chinese names literally means “Fleeing the Heat Mountain Villa”. From the name alone you can already tell what it is. It is a place where emperors stay when it was too hot in the Forbidden City.
Imperial Courtyard at the Mountain Resort 避暑山庄 at Chengde 承德
The mountain resort is a few degrees cooler than Beijing, making it an ideal place to stay during the summer months. The emperors of the Qing dynasty were known to stay for months at a time, practically living there. They probably come back when it gets too cold here. Surprisingly, it wasn’t that cold here in the Mountain Resort, I was half expecting it to be freezing considering that horrible train ride I took to come here. It was actually quite pleasant here or maybe it was because I was walking a lot here so I didn’t really feel that cold that much.
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