The Mountain Resort - Chengde

The Mountain Resort (Bishu Shanzhuang) in Chengde is the former Summer Resort and hunting grounds of the Manchurian Qing Emperors. Established by Emperor Kangxi in the 18th Century. Now it is a beautiful protected area, home to deer (which we saw plenty of) and wild birds as well as the former Imperial Palace and pavilions. It is covered by trails passing past lakes and through forested grounds and surrounded by an outer wall on which you can climb to get great views of the Mountain Resort and the Outlying Temples. We visited on November 1st, the first day that the back section of the grounds (including the wall) were off limits to tourists. We "accidently" entered anyways and had the entire place to ourselves.