¢ñHistory
In ancient times Chengde was called Rehe. During the Warring States Period, Yan State established the local authorities as the same level as the shire government in this area. And since theQin Dynasty was established, every dynasty did establish its own local government in this area. 

In 1703 AD, Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty constructed the Imperial Summer Resort, and Chengde gradually became a place of important political activity of the Qing Dynasty. Rehe Office was established by the Qing Government until the year of 1723 (the Lst year in the reign of Emper or Yongzheng). In 1733, Chengde State was established, so the name of "Chengde" appeared. After wards Chengde gradually developed into a flourishing city, and population living there was becoming larger and larger. But it is a pity that such a prosperous situation didn't last for a long time. Chengde started to decline from the time in the reign of Emperor Xianfeng to the ruling period of Kuomintang. After the Revolution of 1911, the Rehe Prefecture was established. In 1929 Rehe Province was established, and Chengde became its capital city. After liberation, Chengde started to enter a new page of its life in history. And in July 1993 the original Chengde City was combined with Chengde Prefecture. At present, Chengde City includes eight counties and three districts with a total population of 3.49 million.

¢òA Survey of Tourist Industry

Chengde is located in the Northeast of Hebei Province. It is the regional city under the jurisdiction of province with the whole population of 3.49 million and the area of 40 thousand square kilometers. It consists of three districts and eight counties. There are many scenic spots and historic sites in Chengde, and beautiful natural scenery and nice climate in four seasons. It is one of the 24 Famous History and Culture Cities firstly improved by the State Council and one of the Top 10 Famous Scenic Spots of China and one of the 44 Key Scenic Spots in china and one of the 40 Best Tourist Sites in China. At the end of 1994, the Imperial Summer Resort together with the temples around it was listed as the World Cultural Heritage by the UNESCO. In June 1998, the Imperial summer Resort was confirmed to be one of the 10 model civilized scenic spots of the whole country. At the end of 1998, Chengde City was chosen through public appraisal as the Top Tourist City in China.  

Chengde city has abundant travel resources. The government of Chengde City has put 3000 million yuan into rebuilding the well known Imperial Summer Resort and Outer Eight Temples. Now the renovation of forty scenic spots of "Seventy-two Scenic Spots of Emperor Kangxi and Qian long" has been completed.
Seven temples of Outer Eight Temples have been opened to public. Besides, there are newly-opened tourist regions such as Qingchui Peak forest Garden, Kuixing Tower, Twin Towers Mountain. In the county region there are also rich tourist sites. Jinshanling Great Wall is situated in Luanping county; "The First Grassland in the North of Beijing" located in Fengning County has natural beauty and the advantage of good geographical position; In "White Clouds Ancient Caves" (Baiyun Caves), you can see the marvelous spectacle of strange perilous peaks, lovely dells, typical natural beauty and see the Buddhist monks, nuns and Taoists all around; The famous "Mulan Weichang" (Mulan Hunting Site) in Weichang County is the imperial place of the Qing Dynasty for hunting, now it is amice place for cooling off in summer and skiing and hunting in winter; Fog Ghost (Wuling) Mountain in Xinglong county has many kinds of animals and plants which has been confirmed as the nature reserve under the State protection; "Great Wall in the Water" in Kuancheng County is a wonder of the 10,000-li Great Wall; The landscape in the source of Liaohe River in Pingquan is charming;
The wild forest can be seen clearly; the meadow and the vast grassland on the top of the hill appear to be an attractive grassy meadow landscape in high mountains. At present, the projects such as "Tour of Beijing-Chengde World Cultural Heritage", "Tour of Folk Customs", "tour of Skiing and Hunting in Mulan Weichang", "Tour of Forest and Grassland on the Dam (Bashang Grassland)", "Ecological Tour of Beijing-Chengde-Weichang-Fengning-Beijing", "Tour of Historic Sites on the Great Wall in Chengde", "Tour of Scientific Investigation on Fog Ghost Mountain", "Tour of Buddhism" etc. are carried out and very popular among visitors from home and abroad.
Along with the fast development of tourist in dusty, the travel facilities in Chengde City are gradually being improved. There are 21 designated foreign-related hotels, among them 17 are star rated (4 of three stars, 8 of two stars, 5 of one star), there are also the Heaven and Earth (Qianyang) Grand Hotel and the Red Mansion (Honglou) Guesthouse constructed according to four stars grade standard. The whole number of guestrooms of designated foreign-related hotels of the city is more than 3000 guestrooms, altogether 6400 beds.
Besides there are 305 other hotels all over the city and 20 thousand beds. There are 2000 of different kinds of restaurants, among which 21 concerning foreign service and 12 concerning domestic service. They not only have the court dishes, delicious meat and fish dishes but also can serve the inexpensive and daily dishes for the masses.
The traffic in Chengde is very good. The railway and highway network is perfect. In the railway aspect, the special travel train has been established successfully and the time from Beijing to Chengde has shortened from 5 hours in the past to less than 4 hours now. Since 1996, many fast travel train lines have been opened such as from Chengde to Tianjin, from Chengde to Shenyang, from Chengde to Inner Mongolia etc. And the four main train lines Beijing-Chengde, Beijing-Shijiazhuang, Chengde-Shenyang, Beijing-Tonghua have been in use and are very convenient for traveling. At present there are more than 50 travel agencies in Chengde, in which 4 are related to international travel business. Also there are good translation services and travel guides who speak English, Japanese, German, Italian, Spanish, Cantonese and Fujian dialect.
The cultural entertainment in Chengde is very rich and colorful, such as the dancing performance in the imperial palace while the Emperor is having dinner, the traditional dancing performance in Manchu nationality, the charming lights of Putuo, the particular dancing performance just like lots of huge stars round the beautiful moon and the folk dancing and singing performance in primitive and natural villages and villas which win great praise of visitors from home and abroad.
In recent years the tourist industry in Chengde has developed fast. In 1998, 2.9 million people visited Chengde including 90 thousands of foreign tourists and brought the income of 960 million yuan.

¢ó¡¡Tourist Symbol of Chengde

The tourist symbol of Chengde City is decided by Chengde Tourist Bureau in 1994. The outline of the design is round. In the inner round is the Qingchui Peak representing the natural beauty combined with Shuixin Pavilion (Mid-lake Pavilion), which forms a beautiful picture. Under the pavilion there are two different lines in the degree of thickness, which represents the inverted reflection of the pavilion in the water, and it also can be understood as the wide water surface of Shilizhai Lake and the water of Wulie River. In its lower part is the "Chengde tourism" words written in both Chinese and English. The "CD" (the first two letters of Chengde in English and Pinyin) that forms a circle represents the wall of the villa and the ancient Great Wall in Chengde City.

¢ô¡¡Chengde Highlights

Brief Introduction of Chengde
Located 256 kilometers northeast of Beijing, Chengde is surrounded by the mountains. Its major tourist attractions are the Chengde Mountain Resort and Eight Outer Temples. Built in the 42nd year of the Kang Xi's reign of the Qing (1703), the Chengde Mountain Resort was the former out palace of Emperor Kang Xi and other Qing rulers of the time. The palace structures along with the temple built in the place show the different styles of architecture by various Chinese nationalities. The mountain resort possesses scenery featuring those of both north and south China. For their unique shapes and beauty of colour, the Eight Outer Temples represent the different features of the culture of the Han, Tibet, Mongolia and other minority nationalities.

Main Attractions

The Chengde Mountain Resort Situated in the northern part of Chengde, the Mountain Resort, also called the Temporary Imperial Dwelling Palace in Rehe, was built by the Emperors Kangxi and Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty (1644 A.D-1911 A.D) for the sake of stabilizing the frontier region and maintaining the unity of multi - nationalities. This large resort is considered the most remarkable imperial garden still existing today in China.The Chengde Mountain Resort was the former out palace of Emperor Kang Xi and other Qing rulers of the time. The palace structures along with the temple built in the place show the different styles of architecture by various Chinese nationalities. The mountain resort possesses scenery featuring those of both north and south China. 

Mulan Hunting Site

Mulan Hunting Site (Mulan Weichang) is famous for its natural hunting. It used to be royal hunting site in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1901 A.D.) and now it is amice place for cooling off in summer and skiing and hunting in winter
It is located in Weichang County, Chengde city, with an area of 2324 square kilometers in which S.aihanba Spot counts 1685 square kilometers and the Saihanba National Forest Park is in the spot. Since ancient time it has been a fertile place, a natural imperial garden. "Pine Trees for One-thousand-li" has ever been the hunting place for the Emperor in Liao Dynasty. "Mulan Weichang" is also the place for Emperor in the Qing Dynasty to hold the Mulan hunting in autumn. Nowadays, it still keeps the feature of nature and simplicity, keeps the primitive beauty.

Pule Temple

Located in the north-west of Chengde city, the Pule Temple was built in 1766 A.D, by Qianlong Emperor. After the rebellions in Xinjiang area was suppressed by central government of the Qing Dynasty, more and more ethnic minorities groups leaders came to Chengde Mountain Resort to present themselves to the Emperors and spend their summer holidays together. The temple was constructed to show the respect of centeral government to the Minorities. It consists two parts: the front parts are traditional Chinese architectures while the back parts are Tibetan Buddhism style buildings as well as Buddhist rites.

Putuo Zongcheng Temple (Lesser Potala Palace)

Built in 1771, the Putuo Zongcheng Temple is a most resplendent and sweeping one. It covers an area of 220,000 square meters. And this temple was built in great similarity to Potala Palace in Lhasa Tibet in architectural style. That is why it is also called the lesser Potala Palace.

Puning Temple

The Puning Temple (with its popular name Big Buddha Temple) is located in the north-west of Chengde city. The main attractions inside the temple are Bell and Drum Towers, Pavilions, Heaven King Palace (Tian Wang Dian) and the Daxiong Baodian. Built in 1755 A.D (QING Dynasty), the temple shows the Qing Dynasty's respect to the Minorities. It is a most grandiose palace group. It is an architectural masterpiece of BAROQUE style .It has been placed on "a catalogue of world culture heritage" by UN in 1981.

Wooden Club Peak

It is a very famous hill with its unique shape like a wooden club standing up to the sky. The hill is about 598 meters high altitude and relatively 60 meter with its wooden club shape peak. Climbing up to top for a wonderful bird-eye-view of the Chengde city.

Xumifushou Temple

Xumifushou Temple (Temple of Sumeru Happiness and Longevity) Copied from the Tashilunpo Monastery in Xigaze Tibet where the Sixth Panchen Lama lived, this temple was built in the 45th year of Emperor Qianlong's reign (1780) as a temporary residence and study for the Sixth Panchen Lama when he made a 20,000-li journey to the resort to offer congratulations to Emperor Qianlong on his 70th birthday.

The Eight Outer Temples
Outside the Chengde Mountain Resort, there are twelve temples built during the Qing Dynasty (1644 A.D~1911 A.D). Dominated by eight districts at that time, they were called the Eight Outer Temples. It took 67 years to build these temples. Standing for the different architectural style of various Minorities in China, the Eight Outer Temples is the symbol of the country unity and minorities solidification.
As they were under eight different administrations, they were usually referred to as the eight Outer Temples. Eleven splendid temples were built more than two hundred years ago east and north of the resort. Only seven temples remain intact today, reflecting the traditional art and culture of the Han, Manchu, Mongolian, and Tibetan nationalities.