The Imperial Summer Villa of Chengde,also called the Palace of Chengde or the Summer Palace of Rehe(warm river),is situated in the north of the city of Chengde in Hebei Province.covering some 560hectares,it is about twice the size of Yi'Ho'Yuan or the Summer Palace in Beijing and eight times as large as Beihai Park which used to be the Winter Palace of the emperor.this resort,which constitutes more than half of the city of Chengde,is one of the three well-preserved magnificent ancient architectural complexes in China,the other wo being the Forbidden City in Beijing and the Confucian Temple in Qufu in Shandong Province. It is also the largest imperial garden in the country.

Beginning from the late seventeenth century,during the reigh of Emperor Kangxi of Qing,Tsarist Russia had intensified its encroachments on Heilongjiang Province in northeast China.At the same time,Prince Gaerdan of the Mongolian tribe Zhungaer, if we may use Chinese pinyin transliterations of these names,that lived in the northwest borderland of China,was activelytrying to split off from the Qing regime with the support of Tsarist Russia.Under these circumstances,Kangxi took a series of counter-measures to strengthen his control ovr the northern borderland and improve his relationship with the many Mongolian tribes in the region so as to defend China's unity against further Russian invasion.One decision he made was to made personal inspection tours to the northern borderland.he also set up there the Imperial Hunting Grounds,called Wei'Chang(enclosed grounds) in Chinese where during an inspection tour he would meet with the princes of various nationalities in the northwest borderland for such activities as horse-racing ,archery and other martial sprots.In this way he not only succeeded in improving his ties with the minority nations but also the military preparedness of the country.

The inspection and hunting tours would take some three or four months during which the emperor necessarily would also have to tade care of state affairs, granting audiences to ministers and other officials and reding and writing comments on memorials.This made it necessary to have temporary abodes on the journey and supplies of all kinds.In consequence,16temporary palaces were built between Gu'Bei'Kou or the Ancient Northern Pass and the Imperial Hunting Grounds. In 1701 when Kangxi was on his way north ,he happened to pass through Rehe.Formerly a province and today a part of Hebei ,he was enraptured with the beautiful landscape in the region,with range upon range of undulating hills.The following year he came to the same spot again where he met an old man pasturing his herd.The latter told him that not far ahead was good pastureland where the Mongolians herded their horses.Grass grew lushly there and the water was crystal clear.According to the old man,it was a blessed stretch of land with very few residents that was free from vermins and diseases .At these words,Kangxi set off on horseback.Before long,there came into his view luxuriant ancient pines and range upon range of hills with clear,mirror-like water pools.It was indeed a superb scenic area.Feling relaxed and exhilarated,Kangxi lingered on for a while.He then decided to have a temporary palace built nearby,tellinghis retinue to start surveying the site at once with the specific instruction that all existing hamletsand fields should be kept intact,that the ancient trees should be left where they were and that in laying out and designing the palace full consideration should be given to the natural conditions of the land.His principle was to "let the mountains and waters have their say as to what was beautiful scenery "and to avoid artificiality and ornateness as much as possible.

Thus began in 1703 the construction of the Imperial Summer Villa in Rehe which was ,however,not fully completed until almost 90 years later,although in five years'time a resort was beginning to take shape.In the Qing Dynasty(1644---1911),Kangxi,Qianlong and a succession of other emperors after them used to spend five to six months here each year,administering affairs of the state and receiving princes of the minority nations or foreign envoys.Hence this resort was more than just a summer retreat but a second palace away from the capital.

The Imperial Summer Villa comprises two parts,the palace area and the scenic area.Ringed by a wall ten km long that rises and falls with the surrounding hills,there are in all more than 110 architectural structures within the wall,including halls offices,studios,studies,towers and buildings for landscaping purposes.At the foot of the hills to the northeast,outside the wall,are a number of magnificent templesdubbed collectively Wai'Ba'Miao or the Eight Temples Outside the Wall,with architectural features showing the best aesthetic influence of the architectural styles of various national minorities.In the palace area are the main palace hall,Hall of Pines and Cranes,Hall of Pine Valleys,Eastern Hall,etc.The scenic area is made up of lakes,rolling fields and hillsides.Thirty-six of the sights in the villa were named and inscribed by Emperor Kangxi,all in four-character phrases.Another 36 were named and inscribed by Emperor Qianlong who ,to show deference to his grandfather Kangxi,used three-hcaracter phrases only.
Inside the vermilion gate of the Imperial Summer Villa ,the first architectural structure that comes into view is the main palace hall named Simplicity and Reverence which is ,so to say,the centrepiece of the palace area.The name of the vermilion gate is Yue'She'Men or Gate for Reviewing Archery,for this was where the emperor presided over such contests.But this was also where he issued decrees,announced official appointments and held grand ceremonies.The horizontal board over the over gate was inscribed by Kangxi himself with the four characters Bi'Shu'shan'Zhuang or Mountain Villa to Escape Summer Heat.The main palace hall was built of nanmu,a kind of hardwood peculiar to China ,and the architectural style was that of an ordinary north China gray brick house,free from brightly painted décor, with all woodwork in natural, unadorned colour. This is in harmony with Kangxi's inscription hung on the northern wall, that is ,Simplicity and Reverence, which indicates an aloof outlook on life as embodied in the saying:Only a smiple and plain lifestyle can help one realize his ture goal in life.

It was in this main hal that Emperor Qianlong received the heroic Mongolian chieftain Wobaxi of the Turhot tribe who led his tribesmen on their massive migratiuon back ot China from Russia, The Turhots were a major Mongolian tribe who were compelled to migrate westward towards the end of the Ming Dynasty under continual attacks by the Zhungaer tribe. They then settled in the lower reaches of the Volga in Russia.There for a long time they were subjected to oppression and plunder by the government of Tsarist Russia and unable to stand this any longer,they finally decided to migrate back to China.After overcoming untold difficulties and suffering heavy losses at the hands of the Tsarist forces who pursued and tried to block their way,they finally arrived back in Chian in 1761.To show his admiration for the heroic feats of Wobaxi and his tribesmen,Qianlong received the chieftain in the main palace hall and gave a banquet in his honour. It is said that the emperor spoke to the chieftain in Mongol and conferred on the latter the title of the Great Valiant Khan.

Behind the main hall is an architectural structure named Yan'Bo'Zhi Shuang or Cool on the Misty Lake which was the first among the 36 sights named and inscribed by Kangxi.Here is found the bed chamber of the emperor.Every time Kangxi,Qianglong or Jiaqing came to the resort,they stayed in this hall.Duringthe reign of Emperor Xianfeng,his two imperial concubines,Cian and Cixi,each occupied one of the two adjoining countyards on the side,Cixi in the west and Cian in the east where today visitors will see all the furnishings and ornaments of those days.

In 1860 when Beijing was under attack lby the Joint Anglo French Forces ,Xianfeng took refuge in the resort together with the empress dodwager and his two concubines.Is this resort he signed the decree authorizing his younger brother Prince Gong to conclude the humiliating Beijing Treaty with the invaders under with China lost some of her sovereign rights.It was also from here that he ratified retroactively the Sino-Russia Treaty of Aihui.The following year,Xianfeng died of illness in this resort and was succeeded by his six-year-old son TongZhi. After this,the mother of the young emperor,Cixi,who had always cherished ambitions for the throne,began a series of power struggles with eight of the imperial ministers led by Sushun who had beed appointed as the young emperor's advisors.It was in this summer villa that she engineered the 1861 palace coup which enabled her to literally take over the throne.In modern Chinese history,this is referred to as chui'lian'ting'zheng or "run the state from behind the screen."

Lake Sai in the summer villa covers about 80hectares.Unlike Kunming Lake in the Summer Palace in Beijing which is in the main an open expanse of water,Lake Sai,while considerable in size,is characterized by a more varied scenery having been cut up into smaller interconnected lakes of different shapes and sizes by islets,causeways,bridges,sluice-gates and lake-centre pavilions.The lakeside buildings are laid out in the style of gardens typical of the region south of the Yangtse River such as the Temple of Jinshan Hill in Zhenjiang,the Forest of Lions Garden of Suzhou and the Misty Rain Tower of Jiaxing.The result is that the villa has become an asemblage of famous scenic gardens in China.

To the north of the lake area are extensive flatlands which are divided into three sections,the east,the middle and the west.The middle section alone covers hundreds of acres.On the shores of the lake are located four pavilions such as Flowing Water and Hovering Clouds and Fields of Shady Trees,from each of which a superb view of the lakes and surrounding hills can be had .To the north of the four pavilions are two other interesting sights,the Ten Thousand Trees Garden and the Horse-taming Grounds.Here one finds both densely-grown and shadowy woods and open grasslands.The Ten Thousand Trees Garden was where herds of deer once roamed,grazing to their hearts'delight and reducing the grasslands to a green carpet of short grass.Qianlong had once described the scenery here in a poem which was carved on a ablet lying at the southern end of the garden.It is still there,intact.Because of the magnificent pastoral view,the emperors often entertained Mongolian princes to barbeque dinners here,along with games of wreatling, horse-racing and archery which the nomadic people liked .There are no architectural structures in the Ten Thousand Trees Garden except for a few Mongolian yurts.In this garden Qianlong had also received the Sixth Panchen Lama from Tibet and the emvoys of such foreign countries as Britain,Burma,Vietnam and Korea,giving banquets in their honour with the accompaniment of music.

According to an ancient Chinese legend,Shun,who is believed to be one of the five sovereigns of prehistoric China,has once built a fan-shaped temple on Nanxun Mountain where he prays and prays to heaven to fan away the sufferings of the people.To show that he was fa dedicated follower of the great tradition initiated by such lofty kings as Shun,Kangxi had the resort laid out like a feather fan with the main palace hall which symbolized imperial power locatd where the handle should be ,implying thus that as emperor he wished to use the fan to relieve the sufferings of the people.It is obvious,however,from the history of the past several centuries that no emperor could have done that.It is up to people themselves to root out the cause of their sufferings.Now the former Imperial Summer Villa has been turned into a resort where ordinary people can enjoy rest and recreation and ,with is spectacular scenery,has become a favourite haunt to tourists from afar too.