one of the 8 outlying temples

A resort fit for an emperor?

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July 30th 2010
At first glance Chengde, appeared to be every travellers nightmare. Standing at the train station we were concerned that something had been lost in translation and we had ended up in the wrong town. Scores of unfinished buildings, rubble and litter made parts of the town look like a glorified building site. This perhaps made the contrast of the mountain resort even more striking. Slap bang i ... read more

Asia » China » Hebei » Chengde

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For centuries China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences, but in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the country was beset by civil unrest, major famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation. A... ... read more