How do I get to Chengde Mountain Resort from Beijing?

The palace area is located in the southern part of the mountain resort and covers an area of 102,000 square meters. The main palace is the main building in the palace area and includes nine courtyards, divided into two parts: “front court” and “rear sleeping quarters”. The main hall is called “Temperance and Respectfulness Hall”. It is built with precious nanmu wood, so it is also called Nanmu Hall. The palace area was the place where emperors of the Qing Dynasty held court, held grand ceremonies, and lived. The architectural style is simple and elegant but without losing the solemnity of an imperial palace. The main palace is now opened as a museum, displaying court cultural relics left over from the Qing Dynasty. There are more than 20,000 precious cultural relics hidden in the main palace area. The “Cool Breeze from the Misty Waves” hall is a five-bay bungalow.
The palace area is located in the southern part of the Mountain Resort. It is connected to the plain area and lake area in the northeast and the mountain area in the northwest. The main building is in the middle, and the ancillary buildings are placed on both sides, basically balanced and symmetrical. It makes full use of the natural environment and is modified to skillfully combine natural landscapes and human landscapes, making the palace buildings in the Mountain Resort garden-like while also showing the grandeur of a royal garden. The palace area is composed of four groups of buildings: the main palace (opened as the Mountain Resort Museum), Songhe Zhai, the East Palace (destroyed), and Wanhe Songfeng.
The Mountain Resort is one of the three major ancient architectural complexes in China. Its greatest characteristic is that there are gardens in the mountains and mountains in the gardens. There are more than 120 groups of large and small buildings. Among them, Emperor Kangxi composed 36 scenes with four characters, and Emperor Qianlong composed 36 scenes with three characters. These are the famous 72 scenes of the mountain resort.
The 36 scenes named in the Kangxi period are:
Cool Breeze from the Misty Waves, Path on the Cloudy Bank, Coolness without Heat, Mountain Villa for Delaying Summer Heat, Beautiful Rocks with Flowing Water, Myriad Ravines and Pines in the Breeze, Clear Shade of Pines and Cranes, Splendid Mountain Land, Clouds Surrounding on All Sides, Twin Peaks as Pillow in the North, Morning Glow over the Western Range, Setting Sun over the Hammer Peak, Snow on the Southern Mountains, Pear Blossoms Accompanied by the Moon, Fragrance of Curved Water and Lotus, Listening to the Wind and Spring, Longing for the Brook and Pond, Harmony between Heaven and Earth, Warm Currents and Rippling Waves, Spring Source on the Stone Wall, Green Islet with Green Maples, Orioles Singing among Tall Trees, Fragrance Spreading Far and Becoming More Delicate, Golden Lotus Reflecting the Sun, Sounds of Springs Near and Far, Boat with Cloudy Sails and Moon-shaped Hull, Shoal Facing the Flowing Water, Appearance of Clouds and Water, Clear Spring Winding around Rocks, Clear Waves and Layers of Greenery, Watching Fish on the Rocky Jetty, Mirror-like Water and Cloudy Peaks, Twin Lakes with Mirrors in Between, Rainbow Drinking the Flow, Luxuriant Groves in the Open Country, Water Flowing and Clouds Drifting.
The 36 scenes named in the Qianlong period are:
Lizhengmen Gate, Diligent Government Hall, Songhe Zhai, Ruyi Lake, Green Bird Boat, Beautiful View Tower, Deer Slope, Water Heart Pavilion, Yizhi Hall, Changyuan Terrace, Jinghao Hall, Cold Fragrance Pavilion, Picking Water Chestnuts Ferry, Lotus Viewing Place, Qinghui Pavilion, Prajna Aspect, Canglang Isle, A Patch of Cloud, Fragrant Water Pond, Ten Thousand Trees Garden, Horse Testing Ground, Fine Tree Pavilion, Tower of Happiness and Success, Eaves of Sleeping Clouds, Chengguan Studio, Green Cloudy Rock, Painted Window, Ascending the Void, Thousand Feet of Snow, Tranquil Studio, Jade Zither Pavilion, Near the Fragrant Villa, Rock of Knowing Fish, Surging Green Rock, Plain and Elegant Studio, Eternal Peace Residence.

Public transportation: Get off at Putuo Zongcheng Temple Station by taking Bus No. 118.

Putuo Zongcheng Temple was built in 1767 (the thirty-second year of the Qianlong period) and completed four years later. It is the largest temple among the “Eight Outer Temples”. Built by imitating the Potala Palace in Lhasa, it is commonly known as Little Potala Palace. There are about 60 large and small buildings in this temple. Halls and towers are scattered everywhere. Facing the water and relying on the mountains, it cleverly makes use of the terrain and scenery for setting off. The layout is flexible without losing its solemnity. The main building, the Grand Red Terrace, is 43 meters high. The Hall of the Reunion of All Dharmas in the center of the terrace is the main hall. The top of the hall is higher than the surrounding buildings. The roof of the hall is covered with gilded copper tiles with fish scales, shining golden and extremely magnificent. At the bottom, because of the enclosure of three-story buildings, the shadow is dark and the light contrast is distinct, creating a solemn religious atmosphere. It is a treasure in religious architecture. In recent years, the ethnic and religious song and dance “The Light of Putuo” has been grandly launched on the “Imperial Seat Tower” on the Grand Red Terrace. By refining major events such as the completion of the temple, the emperor’s birthday celebration, and the return of the Torghut tribe, it uses song and dance forms to show the strong centripetal force and cohesion of the Chinese nation during the “Prosperous Age of Kangxi and Qianlong” and the common aspiration of people of all ethnic groups across the country to create a prosperous and peaceful era and a prosperous China. At present, every morning, tourists can watch “The Light of Putuo” on the “Imperial Seat Tower” where emperors in the past enjoyed song and dance.

Public transportation: Get off at Puning Temple Station by taking Bus No. 6 or Bus No. 26.

Puning Temple is the largest Buddhist event venue in northern China. Monks gather and incense is flourishing. The gilded wood-carved Thousand-Handed and Thousand-Eyed Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva with a height of 27.21 meters, which has been recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records, has more religious and artistic charm after overall maintenance. Its cultural relic value and artistic value can be called the best in the world.
Puning Temple was built in 1775. In 1961, it was approved as a national key cultural relic protection unit. In 1985, it was approved as a religious activity site by the State Administration for Religious Affairs. In 1994, it was approved as a world cultural heritage by UNESCO. The temple covers an area of 33,000 square meters and has 29 buildings of various types including halls and towers. With the pattern of integrating the emperor and the Buddha, it has both the grand scale of a magnificent royal temple and is also the center of the “Mandala Buddhist Kingdom”, a holy place for Buddhism.
The main building, the Mahavira Hall, is a double-eaved hip-roofed style, known as the “Nine Ridges and Ten Dragons” hall. Inside, there are statues of the Buddhas of the Three Ages and eighteen arhats, surrounded by murals. The two main buildings in the front and back are both built on a 1.4-meter-high stone-built Sumeru pedestal. The platform in front of the hall is surrounded by exquisitely carved stone railings. In the center of the steps, there is a stone carving art masterpiece “Cloud Dragon Stone Steps”. At the four corners are dragon heads called “chi”. The “Golden Dragon and Seal Script” and “Six-Character Mantra and Seal Script” colored paintings in the temple are even more unique among ancient architectural paintings.

Public transportation: Get off at Lama Temple Station by taking Bus No. 10 or Bus No. 28.

The Qingchui Peak National Forest Park is commonly known as Bangchui Mountain. In ancient times, it was called Shiting. It is located on the mountain top on the east bank of the Wulie River in the northeast of the urban area. It stands on a high mountain ridge about ten li to the east of the Mountain Resort. It is about 2.5 kilometers away from the urban area. There is a sheer cliff below and the blue sky above. The situation is extremely dangerous. The peak is thick at the bottom and thin at the top, shaped like a club. It is 596 meters above sea level. The lower diameter is 10.7 meters, the upper diameter is 15.04 meters, and the height is 38.29 meters. Together with the protruding base under the club, the total height is 60 meters. There is a mulberry tree halfway up the club, called Mengsang (also known as cliff mulberry). It is 3 meters high and about 30 centimeters in diameter. It is about 300 years old. It bears white mulberries that are fat and large. For 300 years, the stone peak and Mengsang have accompanied each other. Mengsang depends on the stone peak for survival, and the stone peak is enlivened by Mengsang. Qingchui Peak has a history of 1,500 years as recorded in written records. Li Daoyuan, a geographer in the Northern Wei Dynasty, recorded in “Commentary on the Water Classic”: “The Ruoshui River (now Luanhe River) flows southeast again. The Wulie River flows in. The water of the Wulie River has three branches merging… Flowing southeastward, it passes under Shiting. Shiting is on top of layers of mountains. A solitary stone rises like a cloud. Facing the cliff, it is extremely steep and can be more than a hundred zhang high. When the governors pass by, they select and train warriors. With bows and arrows, no one can reach its lofty top.” 300 meters north of Qingchui Peak, there is a stone cliff. In the Qing Dynasty, there was a small one-slope water temple built. There are cliff carvings on the stone wall inside the temple. From north to south, they are: Maitreya Buddha, the 7th Dalai Lama (Gesang Gyatso), Tsongkhapa, the 5th Panchen Lama (Lobsang Yeshe), Immovable Vajra, Milarepa, and Shri Devi. There is a stone pillar on the northeast slope of Qingchui Peak.