Chengde

Day Three

Packed a light luggage and deposited my bigger one at Zhongan hotel with a charge of RMB 5 per day. Checked out the hotel at about 5.30 am and walked to the Beijing Railway Station to meet the representative from the Tour Dispatch. Got the train ticket from him at about 6 am and proceeded into Beijing Railway Station.

Beijing Railway Station (北京火车站)

This railway station was one of the 'Ten Great Buildings' in Beijing, which merged Chinese traditional elements into modern architectures (left photo below). After the usual security checks, I then searched for my train departure gate from the electronic board (right photo below). Waited for about 10-mins at the departure gate before the gantries were opened to allow passengers to board the train.



Chengde Two-Day Tour

Booked this two-day tour at Beijing Hub of Tour Dispatch for RMB 470 per person, which included return train tickets, one-night lodging, 4 meals (1 breakfast, 2 lunches and 1 dinner), and admission tickets to 3 places. A detailed itinerary (left photo) was given to me after I paid my trip.

Most package-tours to Beijing would include a day trip to Chengde that set off in the morning and return at night by coach buses. However this type of visit only comprises the Principle Palace area and excludes to the Eight Outer Temples. Therefore I took up this guided tour which includes two of the Outer Temples. Initially was deciding whether to take up the 3-day tour but after looking at the itinerary, I confirmed that I've made a wise choice in choosing the 2-day trip. The difference between 2-day and 3-day is the visit to 'Temple of Sumeru Happiness and Longevity' and the major downside of the 3-day trip is its first day will be wasted on the train ride.

Beijing-Chengde Train (北京-承德火车)

The train K7711 departed to Chengde on time at 0630 hours (left photo below). The train is clean, but one drawback is the seat design; you have to see face-to-face with other passengers throughout the journey (right photo below). Probably that is the design of hard-seat section. Most of the time I would close my eyes to take a nap. Chengde is located among the Yan Mountain (燕山) ranges, and beautiful sceneries of mountains and paddy fields could be seen during the train ride. The train even announced the approaching view of a section of the Great Wall on the right side of the train.



Chengde Railway Station (承德火车站)

The train ride took slightly more than 4 hours to reach the destination. Weather changed drastically and began to rain during the train ride; luckily it stopped upon arrival at Chengde railway station (left photo below). Least expected was the temperature dropped to 18 °C in Chengde, which was a big contrast compared to 29 °C in Beijing the day before. Indeed I was there to escape from the heat! Glad that I had packed a wind-breaker in my luggage, I immediately took it out and wore it.

The tour guide from Chengde took us to a small restaurant besides the railway station to have lunch. Three dishes and a soup were served with rice (right photo below). Taste was acceptable, except for the meat had a thick layer of fats.



Chengde Imperial Mountain Resort (承德避暑山庄)

Chengde Imperial Mountain Resort was located 225-km Northeast of Beijing city outside the Great wall. Its resort name in Chinese literally means 'Mountain villa for escaping the heat'. The construction of this resort began in 1703 during Emperor Kangxi's reign and at that time there were 36 scenic sites in the resort. Another 36 sites were added by Emperor Qianlong during his reign, giving a total of 72 sites. The whole construction took 89 years to complete. Each scenic site was named respectively by Emperor Kangxi and Qianlong. Besides a place for the Emperor to rest before the journey to the annual hunting trip to Mulan Paddock (木兰围场), this imperial resort also served as a meeting place for the Emperor to meet the Mongolian and other Minorities leaders.

Because of its vast and rich collection of Chinese landscapes and architecture, the Mountain Resort in many ways is a culmination of all the variety of gardens, pagodas, temples and palaces from various regions of China.

Chengde Imperial Mountain Resort was listed as World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1994.

Most sites however were destroyed during the Civil War, Japanese Invasion and Cultural Revolution. Nevertheless, there are still many valuable buildings remain in the resort. This Imperial resort is currently the world's largest royal resort with four times the size of Forbidden City and twice the size of Summer Palace.

At the entrance, each of us was given an admission ticket (photo below) by the tour guide because every admission ticket had to be scanned individually. Admission cost was RMB 90 per adult.


Palatial Area (宮殿区)

Gate of Beauty and Righteousness (丽正门)

The structure of main gate (left photo below) called 'Gate of Beauty and Righteousness' wasn't grand as I would expect even though it was an Imperial resort. What caught my attention was the building plaque that was written in five different languages (right photo below); from right to left: Manchu (满), Tibetan (藏), Han-Chinese (汉), Wei script (维) and Mongolian (蒙). This symbolized the multi-racial country under the rule of Qing Dynasty.

The pair of stone guardian lions guarding the main gate looked rather fierce. This pair of lions was over 2.5–meters tall including the base. Details of the carvings could still be seen clearly, for example the leg muscles and whiskers. Male lion could be distinguished by his right paw placing on a ball (left photo below), while a female lion has a cub under her left paw (right photo below).

Bronze Lions (青铜狮子)

This pair of bronze lions (photos below) located behind the entrance was made during Emperor Qianlong's reign in 1778. Because of their marvelous design, these bronze lions were almost robbed by the Japanese during their invasion in 1944. Luckily during its initial construction, metal rods were embedded into the ground therefore the Japanese couldn't pull the lions out. Now parts of the lion were being 'polished' by visitors because they believed that luck would go to them by touching the lion's nose, teeth and claws.

Hall of Frugality and Simplicity (澹泊敬诚殿)

The four chinese characters 'Bishu Shanzhuang' (避暑山庄) on the resort plaque (left photo below) was written by Emperor Kangxi which denote the formal name of this resort. Behind this gate is the main hall of the principle palace called 'Hall of Frugality and Simplicity' (澹泊敬诚殿) (right photo below).

The Hall of Frugality and Simplicity was used for important ceremonial occasions, state affairs and meeting of court officials, minorities leaders and foreign diplomats (photo below).


This hall does not have a grand exterior compared to Forbidden City; no yellow glaze tiles, no marble platform and does not have colorful paintings. In fact the whole design of the principle palace was exactly what stated on the name plaque of the main hall: Frugality and Simplicity. This formed a huge contrast from the outer temples that were built lavishly and extravagantly for the Minorities leaders. All these had a political motive behind: to gain the hearts of these leaders and make them felt important.

But to the eyes of a profession, the cost of constructing these wooden halls was much higher compared to those at the Forbidden City of the same size. The hall was rebuilt in 1754 by Emperor Qianlong and a rare type of hardwood known as Nanmu (楠木) was used in the construction. This type of wood, found only in Southern parts of China, is able to resist insect decay and will emit a fine-grained fragrant. This scent will be strongest when the air is still, especially after a rain, and I was lucky to be able to smell such fragrance during my visit.

Hall of Literary of the Four 'Knows' (四知书屋)

Located behind the 'Hall of Frugality and Simplicity', this hall was where the Emperor would relax before and after holding ceremonies (photos below). Only the important members of the Qing court were permitted to enter this place to have audience with the Emperor.



In one of the exhibits, 3 beautifully sculptured bronze plaques were displayed (left photo below). These plaques used to be part of Zongjingge (宗镜阁) of Zhuyuan Temple (珠源寺) in the resort (right photo below). Also known as the hall of bronze, Zongjingge was casted and made entirely of bronze weighing 207-tonnes in total. Each piece of bronze was casted separately and assembled to form the hall structure. However in Oct 1944, the Japanese dismantled the bronze structure and transported them out of the resort. Till now there is no news of the bronze structure and currently only 3 pieces of the bronze plaques remained.

Hall of Cool Mists and Ripples (烟波致爽殿)

This area was the private living quarter of the Emperor. Ancient cypresses could be found in the courtyard which still flourishes all year round (left photo below). The Hall of Cool Mists and Ripples built in 1711 served as the main hall for the Emperor to receive greetings from his Empresses and concubines (right photo below).



At the western chamber of the hall is the Buddhist shrine for daily prayers (left photo below).

Proceed further is the Emperor's bed chamber (right photo below). Though its decoration was simple, this chamber was an important historical relic; this was where 2 Emperors died on the bed. Emperor Jiaqing died in Sep 1820 during an expedition to the North, while his grandson Emperor Xianfeng died in Aug 1861 after escaping from Beijing during the invasion of the Allied forces from British and French.



In addition, here's where Emperor Xianfeng was forced to sign the 'Beijing Treaty' (中英北京条约) and admit the 'Aigun Treaty' (中俄瑷珲条约) in this chamber. Part of the 'Beijing Treaty' agreed that South Kowloon (north of Hong Kong Island) to be ceded to the British and 'Aigun Treaty' agreed to cede 100,000 square kilometers of land to the Russian. Copies of Emperor Xianfeng's approval (left photo below) were on display and a plaque to remind Chinese citizen 'not to forget this National Humiliation' (right photo below).

Hall of Panorama of Cloud-Covered Mountains (云山胜地楼)

The last building of the principle palace is the Hall of Panorama of Cloud-Covered Mountains (left photo above). This hall has no staircase; the rockeries were skillfully arranged to form a stairway leading to the second floor (right photo below), where a bird's eye view of the lakes and hills in the resort could be seen.

Mountainous Area (山峦区)

As the resort area is huge, trams and boats are available for visitors to explore the area easily. Alternatively visitors could also explore the area by foot. Paid RMB 100 to the tour guide, which included the tram ride around the mountainous area, boat ride in the lake area and tram ride in the grassland area.

First part of the trip was to take the tram around the mountainous area. The tram ticket showed it cost RMB 40 (photo below).


Since there was no windows in the tram (left photo below) and the temperature was 18 °C, during the initial ride I was shivering due to the chilling cold winds. But soon I got used to the temperature after a few minutes. The mountainous area covers the wooded mountains, steep crags and deep valleys in which its scenery varies from season to season. Out of the 72 scenic spots, 44 are located in this area. Deers could be spotted ranging freely in this area, and this doe seemed to be pregnant (right photo below).



Mountain peaks and passing clouds could be seen a distance of 50-km on a clear day from this 'Cloud and Mountain-Encircled Pavilion' (四面云山亭), which is the 9th sight of Kangxi' s 36 scenic spots. Here are some distant views taken from this pavilion.

The most famous natural site is the Sledgehammer Peak (磬锤峰), a large rock formation in the shape of an inverted sledgehammer of some 40-meters high (left photo below). From the photo, silhouettes of visitors could be seen standing on the platform of the rock (click on the photo to view larger picture). The resort perimeter wall that is over 10,000-meters in length was built to resemble the great wall (right photo below).



Putuo Zongcheng Temple (普陀宗乘之庙) that resembles the Potala Palace of Lhasa, Tibet (left photo below). Layout of the well-structured Temple of Sumeru Happiness and Longevity (须弥福寿之庙) could be seen from the pavilion (right photo below).

Lake Area (湖州区)

Out of the 72 scenic spots named by Emperor Kangxi and Qianlong, 31 of them are located in the Lake area. The entire area represents a typical South China scene where many poetic views could be observed; for example breeze rustles the willow along the shore, and the lotus and reeds sway over the shoals of fish swimming leisurely in the water.

We took a pavilion-like boat (left photo below) to tour the lake area. This was part of the RMB 100 paid but the exact cost of the boat ride couldn't to be determined. Not too sure if the tour guide was intentional because she left the tickets on the boat. It seems to have a policy in the resort that no mechanic propellers should be used, the boat we took was pushed through the waters manually by 2 boatmen using long bamboo poles. It's really tough earnings for the boatmen and therefore I was curious on how much was earned from each boat trip.

The Water's Heart Pavilions (水心榭), built in 1709, is the iconic structure of the resort (right photo below). The base was a dam to control the water level of the lake and pavilions were constructed for ornamental purposes. However, their picturesque reflections in the water are definitely a feast to the eyes.



Many buildings in the resort are imitates of the actual buildings seen by Emperor Kangxi and Qianlong during their trip to Southern China. For example, the Jinshan (金山) which is a small hill topped by an elegant hexagonal Pavilion of God (上帝阁) was built by Emperor Kangxi in imitation of the Jinshan Temple in Zhenjiang (left photo below). The Pavilion of God is the tallest building in the lake area and consists of 3-storey. The name plaque of each level was written by Emperor Kangxi, namely '皇穹永佑' for the ground storey, '文武威灵' at second storey and '天高听卑' at third storey (right photo below).



The Hall of Mist and Rain (烟雨楼) sits on a small island hill at the north of the lake (left photo below). When it rains, the hills and trees are shrouded in mist which is a wonderful sight, thus this hall was built for viewing such sight. Emperor Qianlong also used to read inside this hall. This building was built to imitate the Hall of the same name in Jiaxing.

Canglang Island (沧浪屿) was another imitation of the Canglang Pavilion (沧浪亭) of Suzhou gardens (right photo below). This is the 17th sight of Emperor Qianlong's 36 scenic spots.



The Opera stage 'A piece of Cloud' (一片云) was the 18th sight of Emperor Qianlong's 36 scenic spots (left photo below). This was where the Emperor and his Empresses / concubines watched the opera performances.

The Warm River Spring (热河泉) as its name applies, remain at a temperature of 8 °C throughout the year. Therefore the best time to visit this place is during winter period where the surroundings are covered with snow while the spring remained clear with occasional steam emitted from the water. Photo below was taken from a travel brochure to illustrate such scene (right photo below). Because of this river, the Mountain Resort was also called 'Rehe Xinggong' (热河行宫) by the Imperial family.



Wenjin Chamber (文津阁) (left photo below), was built as an Imperial library in 1774 by Emperor Qianlong to store mainly two encyclopedias, namely Gujin Tushu Jicheng《古今图书集成》and Siku Quanshu《四库全书》(right photo below).




• Gujin Tushu Jicheng《古今图书集成》is a vast encyclopedic work written during the reigns of Emperors Kangxi and Yongzheng, and was completed in 1725. It contained 10,000 chapters (卷), 800,000 pages and over 100 million Chinese characters. Topics covered included natural phenomena, geography, history, literature and government.


• Siku Quanshu《四库全书》or literally 'Complete library of Four treasures of Knowledge' is the largest encyclopedia in China, consisting of 36,381 volumes (册) with more than 79,000 chapters (卷), comprising about 2.3 million pages, and approximately 800 million Chinese characters. It was compiled by the order of Emperor Qianlong in 1773 and completed in 1782 by an editorial board formed by 361 scholars. This encyclopedia is divided into four parts: namely 'Jing' (经) - "Classics" covering Chinese classics, 'Shi' (史) - "Histories" covering geographies from Chinese history, 'Zi' (子) - "Masters" covering philosophy, arts, sciences from Chinese philosophy and lastly 'Ji' (集) - "Collections" covering anthologies from Chinese literature.

This Wenjin Chamber (文津阁) was built with the exact structure as the Tianyi Chamber (天一阁) in Ningbo (宁波) of Southern China.

Grassland Area (平原区)

Took the last form of transportation, the tram, to tour around the grassland area. The final stop was Temple of Eternal Blessing (永佑寺). This temple was the family temple of Qing emperors. The octagonal pagoda is 65-meters high with a dazzling gilded copper top (left photo below). Whenever Emperor Qianlong came to the Mountain Resort, the first thing he did was to go to this temple to offer sacrifices. The design of pagoda imitated the Liuhe pogoda (六和塔) in Hangzhou and Baoen pagoda (报恩寺塔) in Nanjing. Since this was an imperial temple, the sculpture of a dragon-headed tortoise carrying a stele known as 'Bixi' (赑屃) could be found inside the temple (right photo below).

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Fu Li Lodging (福利公寓)

The tour group then proceeded to Fu Li lodging to check in our accommodation for the night (left photo below). The room was one of the worst I've stayed (right photo below); the toilet was lighted by a yellowish bulb, shower heater took a long time to get heated and the bed had some smell. Nevertheless, as I've been through army-life, these standards are still acceptable. What can I expect more with the price I've paid?



Simple dinner (left photo below) and breakfast (right photo below) were taken at the restaurant inside the lodging. Noticed that steamed buns were available in all the meals and the reason is 'Buns' are considered a staple food to the Northern Chinese compared to 'Rice' by the Southern Chinese.



Temple of Sumeru Happiness and Longevity (须弥福寿之庙)

Since it was still early after dinner at about 6 pm, I then decided to stroll outside the lodging. This lodging is located near the outer temples but very far from the Chengde city centre. Temple of Sumeru Happiness and Longevity is just besides the lodging, therefore had a chance to view its exterior (photos below). Admission was already closed when I was there.



This temple was built in 1780 by Emperor Qianlong to welcome the visit of 6th Panchen Lama. The 6th Panchen Lama traveled all the way from Tibet to Chengde to pay homage to Emperor Qianlong's 70th Birthday and he stayed in this temple during the celebration. This temple was built based on Tashilhunpo Monastery (扎什伦布寺) in Shigatse (日喀则) of Tibet.

Went back to the lodging shortly after taking a few photos because there was nothing to explore at that area. Local television was boring but luckily I brought my iTouch with me to kill time.


Day Four

Woke up early in the morning, checked out my room and had breakfast at 7.30 am in the same restaurant. We then took the transport to the first site: Temple of Universal Peace.

Temple of Universal Peace (普宁寺)

Temple of Universal Peace, commonly called Big Buddha temple, was built in 1755 during the reign of Emperor Qianlong. Basically the temple can be divided into two parts: the front part was constructed based on Chinese style while its rear part was based on Chinese and Tibetan architectural style. This temple was modeled after Samye Monastery (桑耶寺) in Tibet and it is the only monastery in Chengde that has monks living in there.

The main entrance of the temple is simple yet has imperial elegance in its design (left photo below). Hall of Heavenly Kings (天王殿), also known as 'Maitreya Hall' (弥勒殿), is the first hall in most Buddhist temples (right photo below). It houses a statue of Maitreya Bodhisattva (弥勒菩萨) and accompanied by the Four Heavenly Kings (四大天王) at both sides.



Grand Hall of the Great Sage (大雄宝殿) houses 3 statues of Buddha of Three Times (三世佛), each 4.9-meters high (left photo below). They are past Buddha (前世佛): Kasyapa Buddha (迦叶佛), present Buddha (现世佛): Shakyamuni (释迦牟尼) and future Buddha (后世佛): Maitreya Bodhisattva (弥勒菩萨). After existing from the Grand Hall, visitors have to climb 42 steps of flight to the top of 9-meters high platform. This is the rear portion of the temple. The buildings were layout according to the ideology of Buddhism Pure Land. The main hall – Hall of Mahayana (大乘之阁) symbolized Mount Sumeru (须弥山). Two buildings at each side of the hall with its base in semi-circular (right photo below) and crescent shape symbolized the Sun and Moon.



Four lama pagodas are located at four corners of the hall which symbolized the four wisdoms (四智) (photos below).



The tallest building is the Hall of Mahayana (大乘之阁) (left photo below), which is 36.75-meters tall and houses the world's tallest wooden sculpture: a Gold-lacquered Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara at 22.28-meters high and weighing 110-tonnes. The statue itself is made from five kinds of wood, including pine, cypress, elm, fir, and linden.

Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara or commonly known as 'Guanshiyin' (观世音) shows the image of a thousand arms and a thousand eyes (千手千眼), with each arm stretched out from its frame holding various Buddhist instruments (right photo below). However if one is observant, there are only 40 arms stretched out excluding the pair in clasp palm position. According to Buddhist doctrines, there are 25 types of retributive justices (因果报应), therefore 40 multiple by 25 will give the number of a thousand.



Admission cost to the temple was RMB 50 (photo below).


Puning Street (普宁街)

Although Temple of Universal Peace is a religious place, there is a commercial street known as Puning Street (普宁街) just beside the temple contrasting with its serene surrounding (left photo below). Visitors not only can exchange to ancient coins for shopping, but also enjoyed the long-lost folk performances and served by attendants dressed in Qing Dynasty clothes. The street is less than 100-meters but the shops are located inside and between the rows of houses (right photo below).



Cute figurines of solar-powered nodding dolls (left photo below) selling from RMB 15 to RMB 30. Chinese knots with various auspicious items (right photo below) selling from RMB 3 to RMB 15 each. For an instance, the cute pink and red 'Fortune-bringing Cat' cost only RMB 10 each.



Putuo Zongcheng Temple (普陀宗乘之庙)

The next and last temple for this tour was Puto Zongcheng temple. This temple was built between 1767 to 1771 during the reign of Emperor Qianlong and was modeled after Potala Palace in Tibet. The word 'Puto Zongcheng' (普陀宗乘) means 'Potala' (布达拉) in Tibetan, therefore this temple also nicknamed as 'Little Potala Palace'. The temple was dedicated to Emperor Qianlong to commemorate his 60th birthday and his mother Empress Dowager's 80th birthday. Many of the buildings are adorned with copper and gold tiled roofs, which enhance the magnificence of the temple.

After passing through the main entrance (left photo below), the first sight would be Qianlong's Stele Pavilion (right photo below).



Three steles were erected inside the pavilion and each stele had four languages engraved on each side, namely Manchu (满), Tibetan (藏), Han (汉) - Chinese and Mongolian (蒙). The Han language was written by Emperor Qianlong (left photo below). The middle stele recorded the history of the temple《普陀宗乘之庙碑记》, while the two side steles recorded the history of Turhut Mongolian tribe's return to motherland from Russian's Volga River《土尔扈特全部归顺记》and the Aids given to Turhuts by Qing Government《优恤土尔扈特部众记》.

Next sight was the Five Pagodas Gate (五塔门) with five different colored pagodas to denote the five religious sects of Tibetan Buddhism (right photo below).



The pair marble elephants (left photo below) in front of the Gate added the religious atmosphere in the temple.

The 'Gateway with multi-colored tiles' (琉璃牌搂) is located behind the Five Pagodas Gate (right photo below). During the imperial times, only the Emperor and Living Buddha can enter freely through the centre door while the rest of the people would need to be granted by the Emperor to enter through the two side doors.



The main hall is formed by a 25-meters high red platform supported by 17-meters tall white platform (left photo below). Each of these platforms is decorated with Tibetan windows for ornamental purposes. The middle line of the red platform was inlayed with 6 colored glaze niches of a Buddha statue (right photo below) to symbolize the 60th birthday of Emperor Qianlong.



Tibetan believed that by turning the wheels of the Buddha's doctrine clockwise is equivalent of reciting the doctrine once (left photo below). Wangfaguiyi Hall (万法归一大殿) is located on top of the red platform and is a sqaurish building of doubled eaves rooftop ornamented with fish-scale like golden tiles (right photo below).



Cultural performances could be seen at the courtyard outside the Wangfaguiyi Hall (left photo below). Cihangpudu Pavilion (慈航普渡亭) is one of the pavilions located on Northwestern corner of the rooftop (right photo below). It could be easily identified by its hexagonal structure with copper roofing.



Admission cost to this temple was RMB 40 (photo below).


Lunch

The tour ended at around 11 am and we then took a slow walk back to the Fu Li Lodging. Saw this plot of farmland along the way (left photo below) where dried tree branches were tied to form fences to block any stray animals from entering. Had a thought that the original landscape of the outer temples will better be preserved if there is no farm or housing besides the outlaying temples. However it will be a huge effort now to relocate the locals.

Lunch was served in the same restaurant with almost similar dishes as the previous meals (right photo below).



Chengde-Beijing Train (承德-北京火车)

We were then transferred to the Chengde Railway station (left photo below) to board train number K7712 (right photo below). The train departed at 1330 hrs from Chengde and reached Beijing at about 1730 hrs.



Xidan Commercial District (西单商场)

After checked in to Zhongan hotel, I then took the Subway line 1 to Xidan station (西单站) and existed from Exit A.

Xidan commercial district is more popular among the locals because it is cheaper compared to Wangfujing area. Several big malls such as Xidan Departmental Store (西单商场), Beijing 77th Street Plaza, Zhongyou Department Store (中友百货), Xidan Sci-Tech (西单赛特商城) and Joy City (大悦城) are located there.

Had my dinner in a food court located inside the Xidan Departmental Store, where I ordered a bowl of Lanzhou beef noodles (兰州牛肉拉面) for RMB 10 (left photo below). The noodles tasted average but didn't know that the soup can cause slight numbness to the mouth due to its spices. After window shopping in the Xidan malls, I then proceeded to the largest retail bookstore in Beijing: Beijing Book Building (北京图书大厦) (right photo below).



Browsed through the books at almost all the levels and left at 9 pm when the bookstore closed for the day.