Blogs from Chengde, Hebei, China, Asia

This is not going to be a very long blog because a lot of the trip involves endless waits in airports or train stations and while we can wax lyrical about the beauty of a named 47 that would be admitting to a very geeky youth. So we booked a couple of ‘soft seats’ to Chengde. Obviously when I say soft I mean in the same way as laying on a pile of bricks is ‘soft’ or ‘soft’ as in iron is softer than diamond. The 4 hour journey was in aid of a visit to the Summer Palace; the places that countless Emperors and Empresses went to escape the heat of Beijing. Had we thought about it this meant that it was cooler than Beijing and, as Beijing was hovering just above freezing, urmm, this ... read more

Chengde: My Kingdom for a Temple Chengde is the old summer retreat for the Qing Emperors. Up in the hills 200km north-east of Beijing, it is noticeably cooler than the capital and was an excellent base for hunting forays. It was also an excellent location for international conferences amongst the finely-suited politicians of China’s past. Royal Gardens The city was therefore built to impress; it was designed as an 18th century equivalent of a nuclear deterrent. The Mongolian chieftains, Tibetan commanders and Uighur warlords would be invited along, shown the collection of impressively-scaled temples and fine palaces, before being allowed to stroll around what is still the world’s largest enclosed imperial gardens. Here they would allow you to contemplate the power on show, and extrapolate for yourself the likely ability of the Qing to knock you, ... read more

The Syracuse University Abroad program went on our last group trip together to Chengde. ... read more

Hello everyone! Here we are in Chengde. Anyway, from the title you might have thought we were staying at a Resort! haha. If only that were the case... We went and saw where the Emperors of the Qing dynastry went for their summer holidays. Posh place. It took about 100 years in the 1700's to build all the buildings and the gardens. It was pretty. Lots of good Feng Shui. We baked today (as we have everyday). Kwesi's shirt changes colour to a slightly darker blue. Good thing he doesn't smell when he sweats! We walked a long way today. Yes, I dragged my butt... Kwesi was the drill sargent. I think Kwesi is in at least 200 family photos by now. It's a non-stop line-up to have your photo taken with him. It can be ... read more

I arrive in Chendge late in the evening and the town has been quite badly flooded. Fortunately, most of the water has subsided by morning and the weather brightened a little, but the streets are still covered in mud. I visit the Imperial Palace and Summer Villa, and stroll around the very beautiful park and grounds. They have deer running wild that bite if you get too close (take my word for it...), ponds FULL of goldfish and some amazing pagodas, with many tiled rooves. In the afternoon I got to the Puning Si, a Tibetan style temple containing a 22m high, many-armed Buddha, one of the world's biggest wooden statues. It's a working temple and there are hundreds of monks around, hacking and spitting. I also get to turn my first (hundred) prayer-wheel(s).... read more