Chengde, a small country town 250km northeast of Beijing, is surrounded by the Yunshan mountain range. On its outskirts are remnants from its glory days as the summer retreat of the Manchu emperors. In recent years it has once more become a summer haven, filling up at weekends with Beijingers escaping the hassles of the capital.

Further Reading: Chengde in history

The Qing Dynasty (1644-1911 AD) emperors, starting with the revered Kangxi, truly appreciate the cooling charms of the little village of Rehe or Jehol. The Qing court used to live here between May and late October every year, till the warming comforts of the capital lured them back.

Kangxi visited Chengde in the late sixteenth century. With his troops in tow, he passed through the region on the way to the hunting grounds in Mulan, and the peaceful calm of the region appealed to his imperial sensibilities.

In 1703, he began the construction of a summer palace, that gradually grew into plans for 36 constructions (temples, palaces, pagodas etc.). A wise ruler, Kangxi perceived the region as a place to entertain emissaries from all over China, especially from the more troublesome regions to the north and northeast.

Many of the constructions were later built with this plan in mind, either in the form of replicas of minority architecture from around the country, such as the "Tibetan Sumero Temple inspired" Puning si, or with obvious naming policies, such as the deviously hopeful Temple for Distant Security.

Qianlong (1736-1796), Kangxis grandson, followed to build another 36 constructions. The golden days of Chengde had arrived, and thousands of visitors, from all over China and beyond, flocked through the region to pay their respects to his imperial majesty. These visitors were charmed with the homelike buildings and some of the best hunting grounds in China, wooed with dance troops and song, as well as fascinated by seemingly limitless courses of banquets. Some of the most famous visitors included the Sixth Panchen Lama, who was housed in a temple that resembled the Tashilhunpo Monastery.

The death of Qianlong in 1796 was preceded by another hundred years of floundering Qing rule. Although later emperors still took Chengde as their summer resort, the area was gradually to become considered unlucky after the deaths, within the villas grounds and in a short period of time, of the two emperors, Jiaqing (1820) and Xianfeng (1862). In the 1860s, the court was moved from it permanently.