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Chengde
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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. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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China,
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