Chengde

a small country town 250km northeast of Beijing, sits in a river basin on the west bank of the Wulie River, surrounded by the Yunshan mountain range. It's a quiet, unimportant place, rather bland in appearance, but on its outskirts are remnants from its glory days as the summer retreat of the Manchu emperors - these include some of the most magnificent examples of imperial architecture in China. Gorgeous temples punctuate the cabbage fields around town, and a palace-and-park complex (known as the mountain resort) covers an area nearly as large as the town itself. In recent years it has once more become a summer haven, filling up at weekends with Beijingers escaping the hassles of the capital.

The majority of Chengde's one-million-strong population live in a semi-rural suburban sprawl to the south of the centre, leaving the city itself fairly small-scale, its new high-rises yet to obscure the view of distant mountains and fields. However, the surrounding area's buildings, parks and lakes attract hundreds of thousands of visitors a year and, on summer weekends especially, the town is packed with tourists and its main arterial road, Nanyingzi Dajie , is clogged with traffic. The road is much more pleasant in the evening, when a night market stretches all the way down it. Many of the vendors sell antiques and curios which are generally cheaper than in either Beijing or Tianjin, but you'll have to bargain hard and don't expect everything to be genuine.

The mountain resort , a landscaped imperial park with a fabulous palace complex, lies in the north of the town, while farther north and to the east, on the other side of the river, stand Chengde's eight imposing temples.

Attractions in Chengde

Neighboring Areas: Beijing and Tianjin Municipalities; Shandong, Henan, Shanxi, and Liaoning provinces; Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region

Population: 3.53 million

Area: 40,000 sq km

Climate temperate continental monsoon and hilly area climate; four seasons clearly; cold winters without cold current; cool summers without hot period; with enough sunshine of 2000 hours annually and frost-free period of 110-220 days

Average Temperature: 4-13C annually

Rainfall: annual precipitation 800 mm

Mountains: Mt. Luohanshan, Mt. Tianqiaoshan, Mt. Jiguanshan, Mt. Shuangtashan, Mt. Yuanbaoshan, Mt. Wulingshan, the Yanshan Mountain Chain

Rivers: Luanhe River, Beisanhe River, Liaohe River, Dalinghe River, Wuliehe River, Chenghu Lake, Ruyihu Lake, Jinghu Lake