Chengde Imperial Summer Resort
Welcome to the Chengde Imperial Summer Resort.I am your tour guide today and I hope we can share a good time here.
Located in the northern part of Chengde ,Hebei province,Chengde Imperial Summer Resort covers an area of 5.64 million square meters.The construction of the resort was began in 1703 (during the reign of the emperor Kangxi )and completed in1792(during the reign of the emperor Qianlong).It is the place where the emperors spent their summer days.It enjoys the repute as the epitome of China’s landscape and the best claical Chinese garden,because it aimilate both the architecture style in northern and southern China.Besides the resort is blended into the nature.The whole mountain resort can be divided into the two part:the palace and the scenic area.The palace was the place where the emperor lived ,handled state affairs and held ceremonies.The scenic area includes a Lake District, a District of Plains and a Mountainous District.
Now ,we are standing at the main entrance of the summer resort.The antique door is called Lizheng door.On the top of the door ,there is a board on which the emperor Qianlong inscribed Lizheng door with Manchu, Tibetan, Han, Uighur, Mongolian five different words .It symbolizes that China is a united multi-ethnic country.The two stone lions on each side show the emperor’s authority.
As we entered the resort, we can see a huge stone pillar in the distant mountain on the right.The pillar is so tall as if it penetrate into the sky.The pillar is thick upsides and thin downsides,iust like a wooden club which the ancient people used to do the laundry.So people called it wooden club mountain and the emperor Kangxi gave the name “the chime hammer peak” to it.The designer of the resort took the advantage of the pillar to expand the sense of space and create a fresh prospect.Generally, tourists who visit the resort would touch the mountain by their own hands, for there is a saying pervading here “touch the wooden club mountain,you will live for 103 years”.Maybe you can climb the mountain and touch it.It will be interesting.
The palaces in front of us were the office and residence of the emperors,but it becomes the museum now.
Here is the first exhibition room.I gue the first thing catches your eyesight must be panorama of the summer resort.The panorama shows the prosperous period of the Qing dynasty(from 17th century to 18th century).Almost every emperor of the former Qing dynasty came here in the April or May of lunar calendar to deal with administrative affairs and returned Beijing in September or October.In fact, the Chengde mountain resort became the second political center of Qing dynasty.However, the resort has gone through the viciitudes as the dynasties changed.It is not until the founding of the PRC that the resort was restored.It now is the best preserved and the largest imperial garden in China.It also became one of the world cultural heritages and renowned tourist attractions.
Entering the second exhibition room, you can see a lot of pictures.Among them,the most remarkable picture is the picture of autumn Mulan.Mula means the deer whistle in Manchu language.But what is the deer whistle?The soldiers often sneaked into the forest,wearing the buckskin and antlers,whistling and imitating the sound of stag.Since autumn is the mating period o the deer, soldiers could capture the female deer in this method.The picture was drawn by Xinglong A.It depicts the hunting scene of the emperor 200 years ago.You maybe wonder why the emperor led troops to this place just for hunting.Actually ,it is not only for hunting but for the improvement of military capabilities.The military capabilities of valiant Eight Banners(the soldiers in Qing Dynasty) kept falling after the Manchu occupied the whole territory of China.Under the circumstance, the emperor Kangxi realized that it is imperative to improve the military capabilities and consolidate the northern frontiers.So he personally led the troops to the northern frontiers for inspection and set the Mulan training center.The training center symbolizes the friendship among Mongolian,Tibetan and Manchu.It strengthened the communication of the people and consolidate the northern border to resist the Ruian invasion.
Now we are standing in front of the second door,”watching shoot door”.It is the place where the emperor watched the shooting matches among his sons or grandsons.There is also a board on the top of the door, which inscribe the Han character”Bi Shu Shan Zhuang” by emperor Kangxi.If you are able to recognize the Han character, you may found the character “Bi”is wrong and has a extra cro.Actually, the character can be written in two ways in Qing Dynasty, so it is correct.The emperor Kangxi wrote in this way deliberately in order to balance the beauty of the calligraphy.Two majestic bronze lions are standing on the each side in front of the door.During the Anti-Japanese War,the Japanese soldiers invaded into Chengde and tried to loot the bronze lions.Because the heavy weight of the lions, the Japanese soldiers had to seek for tools in order to move the bronze lions.A elder people saw the whole proce and felt painful.He was determined to protect the national treasure.Then he came up with a good idea.He painted the eyes of the lions with the pig blood.When the Japanese soldiers came back, they were horrified to the bloody eyes of the lions.They were afraid that the movement of the lions would bring bad luck to them and escaped hastily.Hence the bronze lions became the symbol of auspicious in people’s eyes.Touch it and you will be bleed.
The grand hall we are stepping onto is the “Dan Bo Jing Cheng”hall.”Dan Bo”,which comes from the Book of Changes,means nothing would be lost if you have no worry and no desire.The emperor Kangxi revealed his prepared and thrifty spirit in the words.This is the main hall of the resort.It is also called “nanmu hall” because it is built of nanmu,a kind of precious wood.During the monsoon, the aroma of nanmu will permeate into every corner of the hall.Nanmu grows on the mountain in Yunnan, Guizhou, Jiangsu, Zhejiang province which belongs to the southern part of China.At that time,there is no advanced transport,so it was strenuous to transport the heavy wood to the north.Most of the wood were transported by ship ,but when the river was frozen in the winter, people had to pull and drag the wood on the ice.It cost 72,000 liang ,a kind of coin in ancient China and 19,000 labors to complete the construction of the hall.The floor of the elegant hall is made of marbles.At the center of the hall, it is the throne of the emperor.The exquisite throne is engraved with the image of elephant,crane and so on.Behind the throne there is a rosewood screen on which the “Farming and Weaving”picture was painted.163 people was painted vividly on the picture.The picture reflects the emperor’s concerns about his people.In the Qing dynasty,the map of its territory was hanged on the left and right wall in the hall.As I said before, the hall was also a place for cerebration.Do you know how the the celebration went on?Let me tell you about it from the bell tower .When the emperor announced the beginning of the celebration, an official would go to strike the bells.Once the bells rang for 9 times, every bells in the resorts would start to ring for 81 times.Then two musicians would began to play music in the pavilion in front the hall and hundreds of officials took their seats.That must be a spectacular scene.3 The emperor Qianlong met some leaders of the minority groups in the hall.In 1780, the emperor Qianlong met the Tibetan leader Banchan in the hall.According to the historical material, Banchan dreed the emperor hada ,a piece of silk used as a greeting gift in Tibet firstly and kowtowed to show his respect to the emperor.Actually, the leader of the minority group did not need to kowtow ,so the emperor was surprised and pleased.The emperor Qianlong also provided the highest standard service to Banchan on his 70 years old birthday celebration.They shared the throne and received the congratulations from the leader of Mongolia and the foreign envoys.together.After the celebration, the emperor Qianlong held another 4 ceremonies for Banchan.The various performances on the ceremonies include music, dance, martial arts, acrobatics and so on.The visit to Chengde by Banchan consolidate the relationship between China and Tibet and suppre the infiltration of the separatism to the Tibetan by the East India Company.In consequence, the “Dan Bo Jing Cheng”hall offered the political stage for the dramas of the national unity in the history.
After we bypa the the corridor, we reach the “Si Xing Shu Wu”.What is the meaning of “Si Xing”.”Si Xing ” from The Book of Change means a blend of force and mercy in politics.The emperor changed his cloth here before or after the meeting with the officials.Sometimes he also met some a few officials or leaders of minority groups here.The porcelain and stone drums displayed in the room are all treasures.You will feast your eyes on them.
The latter part of the palace area is called “hou qin”.It is the place where the emperor and his wives lived.The north room of the palace is named as “Yan Bo Zhi Shuang Dian”.Yan Bo Zhi Shuang means nice and cool.The emperor KangXi deemed that the palace was surrounded by the beautiful hills and the placid lakes .Thus,It is out of question that the room could get such a name.The room is well furnished and splendid.Now , please turn your attention the “Xi Nuan Ge”,the western warm room.It was the emperor’s room?Why we say the room is a warm room?There was an underground flame channel in this room.When the winter arrived,thousands of tons of coal would be burnt in the underground channel to provide heat for the room.Besides, the stoves in the room were burnt as well.Lots of emperors including Kangxi,Qianlong, Jiangqing,Xianfeng once lived in this warm room.The bed was placed by the northern wall with a huge rose sandalwood bed cover.In 1861,the emperor Xianfeng paed away in the exact bed.The yard we are visiting right now went through many historical events in Qing dynasty.In 1860,the combined armies of English and French started to conquer Beijing.The emperor Xianfeng took his mother Cixi and his wife to escape to this place out of fear.It is the place where the emperor Xianfeng signed the “Convention of Peking” and admit the efficiency of the “Sino-Ruia treaty of aigun”,which is humiliating in the Chinese history.A wide range of territory was ceded to other countries and the government of Qing dynasty began to lose its sovereign since then.After the death of the emperor Xianfeng,his mother Cixi initiate a coup and became the real empre.Her ruling lasted for 48 years in which people led tortuous life.
The adjoined room in the east of the “Yan Bo Zhi Shuang Dian” is the “east room”,where the wife of the emperor Xianfeng, CiEn lived.Nowadays, some clocks used in the palace were displayed there.As for the adjoined room in the west, it is the :west room” for the emperor’s mother Ciqi.Some articles for Cixi’s daily use and some pictures were exhibited in the room. “Yun Shan Sheng Di”building is the last part of the main palace.It is a refined 2-story building.The feature of the building is that you found no stair.The rockery before the building is a substitute for the stairs.Climb the rockery, you can get to the second floor.The court hanging panels and gla veels are displayed in the building.They are all sparkling and impreive.You will never get bored of appreciating them.
After we enjoy the visit to the museum, we are arriving at the lake district.Lake is the real attraction in the whole Chengde Imperial Summer Resort.The lake district covers the territory of 57hectares with 7 lakes and 8 islands.The interlock of the clear lakes and islands gives us a illusion of arriving the scenic north China.Look at the tree pavilion on the right stone bridge.They are symmetrical and bright.The “Bi Huan”islet in the left,the “Ru Yi” islet in the middle and the islet”Yue Se Jiang Sheng ” in the right are joined through the long dyke.If you observe it from the highland, the composition of the three lands and the dyke looks like a gloy ganoderma.
Please follow me to the north along the dyke.The island on the front right is the “Jin Men”island., which has a similar semblance of the “Jin Shan”in Zhenjiang,Jiangsu province.The main architecture in the island is the “Tian Xin”pavilion,where the emperor offered sacrifices to the Jade emperor ,the supreme deity of Taoism.The emperor once arrived the island by dragon boat.
Now we come to the largest island in the lake district-the “Ru Yi”island.There are a lot of buildings in the island, but the main building is a grandeur palace.It was the place where the emperor handled the state affairs and lived before the palace district was completed,The northwest of the island is a imitated garden of Pavilion of Surging Waves in Suzhou traditional garden.Even it is not wide and big,the combination of pavilion,the spring and the corridor is ingenious and impeccable.The first scene of the film”Zhi Yin” was shot here.
The delicate building in front us is the “Yan Yu”building,which is a imitated building of the “Yan Yu Building” in Jiangxing,Zhejiang province.Standing on the building and enjoying the scenery in a slightly rainy day, you will feel coming to a fairyland.All the things are enveloped in the mist.The “Qing Yang Book House” is erected in the east of the building.The emperor read, wrote, and learned in the book house.
The site we are arriving at now is the well-known “Re He Spring”.The stone tablet next to the spring were inscribed the two Han characters”Re He”Because the spring water is warm and the upstream spring water keeps flowing into it ,it never be frozen in the winter.When the surrounding is covered by the heavy snow, you can still see the hot haze above the stream.Isn’t is marvelous.
The wide district we can see now is composed of “Wan Shu Yuan万树圆”and “Shi Ma Dai试马埭”.Animals often runs in the dense wood of the “Wan Shu Yuan”.It is a rare sight of graland beyond the Great Wall.“Shi Ma Dai ”located to the west of “Wan Shu Yuan”.It is a gray land where the emperor picked the fine horse before he go hunting on the Autumn Ceremony.
The fantastic building you see now is the famous library in Qing dynasty called “Wen Jin Library文津阁”.Jin means the ferry of water while Wen means the ferry of knowledge.In consequence, if you want to acquire a large amount of knowledge, you should keep asking questions and studying.
The library is actually an imitation of the “Tian Yi Ge天一阁” in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province.Can you gue how many floors the library has? From the appearance, many people think there are only two floors.But in fact it is a 3-floor building.One of the floor is a hidden one which the sunlight can not reach into the loft.Book can get better preserve in the hidden loft.
Please look down into the pool now.There is a crescent in pool.Is it a reflection of the crescent in the sky? But the sun is shinning now.You can find the answer from the rockery in front of the pool.It is the reflection of sunlight.There is a crescent-shaped dent on the rockery.So the crescent in the pool is actually the reflection of the dent.
Now let us head to the mountain district by sightseeing bus.The mountain district covers 4/5 of the area of the whole resort.If you want to appreciate the scenery by walking, I believe it will take several days.We can see the waving hills now.There are 5 valleys in the district.They are Hazelnut Valley, West Valley, Pine Valley, Pear Tree Valley and Cloud Valley.
The pines spread over the whole “Hazelnut Valley” and “Pine Valley”.Besides the two valley are decorated with hazels and oaks.Pear Tree Valley is of extraordinary beauty in the spring.The big pears hang on the trees and the sweet smell of the pear would spread in whole valley.The pine trees in “Cloud Valley” are so tall as if they are going to reach the sky.
A saying goes in China “one who fails to reach the Great Wall is not a hero”, we are going to climb the small Great Wall in the Chengde Imperial Summer Resort ,the palace wall now.The waved wall is nestled to the mountains.Wandering on the wall, you can appreciate the beautiful scenery of the resort and take pictures.
We have finished our sightseeing in Chengde Imperial Summer Resort.I hope you enjoy it and have a good trip in China.
