A shot of the Chengde Mountain Resort in Chengde, north China's Hebei Province.

Chengde, a beautiful city in Hebei Province, is about 225 km from the capital city of Beijing. It is home to the spiritual temples of the Manchu, Mongolian, Han, Tibetan and Hui ethnic groups and cool in summer. Given this, Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty (1616–1911) decided to have a summer resort built there.

Site of cultural diversity

In 1703, when Britain started the construction of Buckingham Palace in London, the construction of the Chengde Mountain Resort began. During the reign of Emperor Kangxi (1662–1722) and Emperor Qianlong (1736–1796), the Chengde Mountain Resort served as a political center second only to Beijing.