The Summer Resort was first built in 1703 and went through the reigns of Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty. It took 89 years to complete and served as a meeting place for the Qing government, foreign envoys, and ethnic minorities in the border areas. It was also the second political center of the Qing Dynasty after Beijing. It reflects the "soft" side of the Qing government's foreign policy, where foreign envoys could communicate with the Qing government without having to travel long distances to Beijing, turning complex political objectives into a peaceful atmosphere in a tranquil garden.
The villa is divided into four areas, the palace area and lake area in the south, and the mountain area and plain area in the north. The palace area and lake area are the essence of the summer resort.
Palace area:As soon as you enter the main entrance of the Summer Resort (located on Lizhengmen Street), you can see the palace area, so usually you first visit the palace area.
Because the Summer Palace was a place for the Qing government to meet with foreign guests, it was built with the etiquette of receiving foreign guests, so its specifications were extremely high, equivalent to the specifications of the Forbidden City. At the same time, in order to showcase the traditional virtues of humility and frugality of the Chinese nation in front of foreign guests, the overall layout of the palace area appeared quaint and generous, but the building materials were also very precious. The main hall, Danbo Jingcheng Hall, was entirely made of nanmu, with a standard "low-key richness", and the design could be described as "painstaking".
Entering through the door with the plaque of "Summer Resort Museum", the tour of the palace area begins. Visitors can see the "Reading Shot" with the four character plaque of "Summer Resort" written by Emperor Kangxi, the "Danbo Jingcheng Hall" in the main hall, and the "Yanbo Zhishuang Hall" where the emperors Jiaqing and Xianfeng passed away. It takes about 2 hours to complete the tour of the palace area. Exit through the back door, take the next slope, and you will arrive at the boarding point for the mountain tour bus.
mountain area:If there is enough time, after visiting the palace area, you can take the mountain bus to explore the mountainous area. If time is limited, you can give up the mountainous area and head straight to the lake area.
The mountainous areas account for four fifths of the area of the Summer Resort, and wealthy families build gardens and decorate them with small rockeries. It is unheard of to truly enclose the vast mountains. Kangxi's deep intention when building the Summer Resort was probably to remind future generations not to forget that their own nation came from far away mountains, nor to forget the foreign tribes outside the mountains who were eyeing their territory.
Along the way, taking the mountain bus will pass through many scenic spots, but you can only take a look on the bus. The only stops that tourists will be allowed to visit are "Simianyun Mountain", "Erma Road", and "Qingfeng Green Island". Among the three stations, the most interesting one is the "Two Horse Road". Standing on the wall of the Summer Resort, you can see the Putuo Zongcheng Temple (commonly known as the "Little Potala Palace") and Puning Temple in the Outer Eight Temples (religious sites established for ethnic minorities to meet with the Qing Dynasty). The golden roof of the Little Potala Palace shines brightly in the sunlight, making it particularly eye-catching. The terminal station of the mountain bike is "Fangyuanju", which is located on the west bank of Ruyi Lake. After getting off the bike, you can directly visit the lake area.
Lake District:The reason why there are pavilions and towers on the lake like the Summer Resort in the north is due to the two emperors Kangxi and Qianlong's love for the scenery of Jiangnan. Although the lake area imitates the characteristics of Jiangnan architecture combined with water, it is much more atmospheric than the small bridges and flowing water in Jiangnan. The villa has a total of "72 scenes of Kangxi and Qianlong" -36 scenes inscribed by Kangxi and 36 scenes inscribed by Qianlong. It's actually impossible to collect all 72 scenes, some of which are very small and can be missed if you don't pay attention while walking. Among the 72 scenic spots, 31 are located in the lake area, and visiting the lake area is equivalent to a condensed version of visiting the 72 scenic spots. Among them, Yanyu Tower is a place to go, modeled after Yanyu Tower in Nanhu, Jiaxing, and is one of the filming locations for the TV drama "Huan Zhu Ge Ge". In the lake area, you can also take a pedal boat and go boating on the lake, with a reference price of 50 yuan/hour.
Plain area:Located between the mountainous and lake areas, walk north from the east side of the lake area adjacent to the villa. The western part of the plain area is a grassland, with the main body being the horse testing area where the emperor held horse racing activities; The eastern part is a forest called Wanshu Garden, which houses 28 yurts of different sizes. In the plain area, there are also buildings such as the Royal Library Wenjin Pavilion, Yongyou Temple, Chunhao Pavilion, and Suyun Yan, which once housed the Complete Library of Four Treasures.
If you are particularly interested in Qing Dynasty history and have some research, the numerous inscriptions in the villa are worth pondering carefully. The builders of the Summer Resort never imagined that in a hundred years, this place would become a tourist destination. While there are certainly those who chew on words on the inscriptions, most of them are personal words spoken to their own people. For example, Emperor Qianlong once wrote six poems on the same stone tablet in Neisongyun Gorge to express his desire to become a leisurely crane after achieving fame and success. His son Jiaqing could only silently express on the nearby tablet after reading them: "Father's poetry is truly profound, and I feel immense pressure (looking at the profound and profound themes, guarding the throne and shouldering the responsibilities)!
Surrounding the Summer Resort are the Putuo Zongcheng Temple (commonly known as the "Little Potala Palace"), Puning Temple, and Panchuifeng Scenic Area, which can be visited together.
There are not many places to eat in the villa. It is recommended that tourists who have been visiting for a long time and like to take their time to see bring some dry food. However, there are many specialty restaurants outside the villa. After leaving the villa, you can try Chengde's specialty dishes, such as lamb soup, baked cakes, flower rose cakes, Nansha cakes, and Yutu lotus leaf chicken. Travel Tips
Address: No. 6 Shanzhuang East Road, Shuangqiao District, Chengde City, Hebei Province
Phone: 0314-2025918
Opening hours: 11/1-3/31 08:00-17:30
Admission fee：Off season (November 1st to March 31st of the following year): CNY90, excluding other fees for the scenic area. Peak season (April 1st to October 31st):CNY130
