Chengde: China's ancient royal summer retreat

[Music] this is CG TV channel Global Television Network in this episode of travelogue we follow in the footsteps of Emperor's on a journey on an agenda and northern China and Hot Springs it's inspiring adventure filled with history culture and nature hello and welcome to travelogue in China I'm in Zuri Lee but just call me Zoe and in this episode I'm gonna take you to check out the best bits of Chengdu which is a sea to the northeast of Beijing just a few hours drive now this is where our adventure starts this is known as the mountain resort the chunder mountain resort and it's where Qin Dynasty Emperor's came to spend several months of the year to escape the sweltering summer heat in Beijing now it's an enormous complex that's got imperial palaces gardens and also temples and I've got my trusty map here now let's go check it out chunder herb a province lies 230 kilometres from Beijing an inch under the one place not to miss is the Imperial Mountain Resort it's one of China's four most famous gardens a five a tourist attraction and as of 1994 a UNESCO World Heritage Site it's name in chinese is b shoosh and rung literally translating as mountain villa for avoiding the heat it was built during the Qing Dynasty which lasted from 1644 to 1911 and it took almost 90 years to complete for the Emperor's avoiding the Beijing summer heat meant spending a lot of time here each year so the resort was designed for both pleasure and business high officials the nobility and foreign envoys were received in the front court area in the rear or the Royal bedchambers though grand in scale the resort's design is characterized by greater simplicity and elegance compared to the Imperial residences in Beijing well we are pretty much done with the section of the resort where the living quarters were and also where most of the administrative affairs were carried out so all right can we go have a little bit more fun I'll show you this map or half of it because it's just too big for me to hold this is where the entrance is and we've just done this section and now we can go check out the lake area there are also partial lands and forests it's really really really gigantic measuring 5.6 square kilometres altogether so I reckon we'd better get back it's dimensions are pretty remarkable the mountain resort covers almost half of chunga's urban area if you're familiar with the Imperial sites in Beijing then I can give you an idea of the scale this holiday home is one and a half times the size of the Summer Palace and seven times that of the Forbidden City construction began at the beginning of the 18th century during the reign of emperor kangxi it was conceived in part as a base from which the Ching dynasty could strengthen its rule over Mongolia and consolidate its northern border defenses every autumn emperor kangxi would lead tens of thousands of his people in hunting and military training on these grasslands the imperial progress from Beijing would certainly have been a grand affair along the way 21 palaces were built where the Emperor could eat rest and tend to his political duties the Cheongdam Alton Resort is the grandest of them all it's divided into four parts each with its distinct theme the palace area which we just saw this Lake area dotted with islets lotus ponds and pagodas a flat plain area and a hilly area it's almost a microcosm of China where the Emperor could survey his entire Dominion [Music] in this ledger lira treat there are 72 scenic sites personally named by the Ching Empress it'd be impossible to do them all in a day or two at this pace but the point is to relax anyway Emperor Qianlong is said to have spent more than 50 of his summers here and there's no record of him ever getting bored [Music] many of these scenic spots around the lake are copied from famous landscaped gardens from the south of China now behind me you can see two characters Jin shun and that's because this is a scene that's replicated from jin shan temple in junction province which is south of the Yangtze and that area is well known for its architecture that integrates water now whatever the Emperor once the Emperor gets right the man-made bits of the mountain resort are designed in accordance with classical Chinese landscaping traditions taking into account the natural topography of hills and waters that probably explains why everything just looks and feels so harmonious in the northwest part of the colossal complex a luxuriant mountain slopes which by the way account for 80 percent of the entire resort area here a brick wall designed to keep commoners out snakes for as far as the eye can see today tourists can climb it and get quite a magical view the lazy or less able can purchase tickets for a minibus which drops you off at key points what a phenomenal panorama hey I'll tell you what if you want to escape from the crowds all you need to do is just use your legs a little bit more and I can assure you that most of the Chinese tourists around here won't follow suit there's like no one around here anyway from up on the wall I can see some of the eight outlying temples of the mountain resort and the one behind me is known as the mini potala palace and that's where we're going to go next though the mountain resort was off-limits to ordinary Chinese people most of its temples were deliberately built beyond its walls making them accessible to the blick after all one thing that shouldn't be just for the elite is religion the eight temples integrate elements of Han Mongolian Tibetan an Uyghur art and culture in doing so as stated by UNESCO they crystallized the achievements of cultural exchanges and integration among different ethnic groups in the course of the development of Chinese architecture [Music] in other words they are well worth a visit especially the mini patella real name port or song-chun temple this holy site was built between 1767 and 1771 modeled after the Potala Palace in Lhasa a [Music] little disappointingly I noticed that these distinctive trapezoids aren't real windows but just for show even so I'm entranced by the gorgeous fusion of Han and Tibetan styles plus the port or Tom Chung temple is huge at 22 hectares it's exactly half the size of Vatican City so if you haven't reached that step count all of yours you certainly will here [Music] the Tibetan Buddhist temple served multiple functions besides the obvious purpose of hosting religious activities it was here that the Emperor received diplomats representing the various ethnic groups within the Ching Empire [Music] port hua Chong Chong temple features around 60 structures including holes and pavilions many exquisitely ornamented and up at the very top this glittering last piece did you know that this temple compound was originally built to commemorate Emperor Qianlong 60th birthday now I'd say that's a pretty decent birthday present right I mean check out that roof behind me it's glorious it's gilded in thousands of kilograms of gold in fact this mini potala palace is the largest of the eight out of temples of chunga and it's one of the largest temple compounds in all of China impressive right it was also built to commemorate the 80th birthday of the Emperor's mother anyway I must say I've been awestruck this whole time in chunga I guess spending all day at an imperial Mountain Resort and one of the country's most majestic temples cultivates that Wow sentiment although we've done the main touristy thing now stay with me because there's much more to chunga than its often given credit for meantime imprint these stunning scenes on your memory coming up next I discover just how much bucolic bliss can be found in chunga from riverside hikes to strawberry picking and i immerse myself in limpid pools of steamy goodness [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] we're headed out of the Chung de mountain resort towards some emerald quietude 80 kilometres away and the verdant trails of a nature reserve it's located in longhua County northeast of downtown Chung de and borders Chiu Fung city in Inner Mongolia autonomous region once upon a time this green escape was part of the Imperial hunting grounds this is the Mojang dam Forest Park Dam being da M of course and locals would proudly tell you that it's the place closest to Beijing with the best natural scenery apparently well I've got to say that the air is definitely a lot crisper and cleaner up here and also it's definitely the first time I put on long sleeves for ages it's a lot chillier as well even in the Sun anyway we're going to try to find the source of the Walia River which is about 1 kilometre uphill from here let's see if I break into a sweat the wall here is the main river running through chunda from here all the way past the mountain resort before the palace was built Chung go was just a small village on the banks of the Walia River despite the exercise even though it's not exactly high intensity I feel like I'm gradually turning to ice it's still barmy in Beijing but here especially at this altitude somewhere between 13 and 1700 meters above sea level it's jacket weather one thin yellow jumper certainly isn't enough speaking of weather the annual average temperature in Chengdu is around 9 degrees Celsius in the middle of summer it hovers around a comfortable 25 degrees much better than the oppressive heat we get in Beijing but that's going off on a tangent we need to focus on our watery goal and soon enough [Applause] I'm basically half frozen the temperatures here are just that much colder than in the capital but with everything so fresh I feel like I've got a new set of lungs well with a forest coverage of 83% it is indeed a welcome break from Beijing after innumerable inhalations of invigorating mountain air I made my way down to where it's a tad warmer but also a tad more man-made in the inhabited parts of long hua County a large farming community makes good use of the flat land fertile soil and running water now this right next to me is the Walia River it's known as the mother river of chunga and as we know it starts off over there in the mountains and runs for a hundred and fourteen kilometers through three counties belonging to Chung the city now the water quality of this river is said to be excellent and it provides extensive irrigation for agriculture including rice paddies and strawberries and speaking of which there's a strawberry commune just over there yes a whole village dedicated to one of my favorite fruits seed our village not only has plenty of strawberries but also an innovative spirit the operation underway is integrating agriculture with leisure ecommerce rural tourism and poverty alleviation all in the name of the lovely red berry well from a botanical point of view it's not a berry it's technically an aggregate fruit just in case you ever get that trivia question anyway out here where there's ample sunlight are hundreds of greenhouses and hundreds of strawberry Pickers mostly local women now able to better support their families oops yep it's me in a very fashionable hat well in this mountainous area you wouldn't really expect to find such flat fertile farming land but actually the air quality and the water quality is so good here that enterprises from outside of this area I've decided to come here instead of these standardized strawberry cultivation practices and a lot of these for the domestic market but also a large proportion is exported and a lot of the local incomes have increased significantly and visitors like me can come here and pick punnets of strawberries and also just gorge themselves all day on them mm-hmm and the best thing is that they're organic the bulk of modern commercial production uses this plasticulture system rows of raised beds are fumigated and covered in plastic to prevent weeds and erosion with holes punched for planting and irrigation running underneath the ripe strawberries are picked and sorted before eventually making it into our jams and smoothies the annual production of strawberries worldwide is roughly nine million tons and China accounts for around 40 percent of that belly full of sweet juicy fruit I continued my exploration of long-haul can making my way back to the banks of the Walia River here I come across what looks to me like a Garden of Eden chunga is truly full of scenic surprises I suppose it's not every day of the year that this vibrancy of flowers is in bloom so I'm lucky to have stumbled upon it and under the sun's radiance following a recent sprinkling of rain Liza's glistening pastoral paradise [Music] motivated by the pleasure I've enjoyed of following the Walia River I decide to persist with my riparian wonderings although I branch off along a gurgling Creek deep into the woods a local I bump into tells me there are natural Hot Springs around here [Music] Wow what is wrong well guess it's not exactly too surprising because the hot spring sauce is just up there so let's go for a little wonder I'm not sure exactly how far up there but before I know it I hear cheerful chitchat and a limpid bubbling blue gray pool materializes in front of my eyes that women only can come here during the daytime that's pretty cool or I could tell the director and cameramen to wait for me but no we've got travelogue to film so for now I make do with a quick chin wag before going on my way in ancient times Chengdu was called Roja which literally translates as hot river and suddenly it dawns on me how it got that name hey can you guess what this is let me open up the door to show you oh it's a lot of steam right well it's not a sauna it's actually where the neighborhood hot water system is controlled and it's pretty amazing because 280 households around this area have hot water natural hot water all year round even in the middle of winter when temperatures drop down a negative 25 degrees Celsius amazing huh now here's something else that we can have a squiz that this is a well leading down to the hot springs the water temperature is said to be 98 degrees Celsius so yeah it's pretty hot and it's great because you can come here and warm your hands when it's cold or even cook Oh well it turns out of course it's not just about the mountain resort here there are hot spring resorts too it makes total sense to capitalize on thunders rich geothermal resources I am sweating so much out here but it's SuperDuper lovely especially being surrounded by natural forest and you know the sound of insects if you're into natural things this place is great because the water is 100% natural the hot springs start off at 98 degrees and they cool it down to about 70 before they pump it up here by the time it reaches here it's about 40 degrees which is perfect for relaxing and soaking all your sorrows away what did I have any what makes the natural hot spring water inch under even better is that it's said to contain 43 kinds of minerals that are beneficial to the body and it's odorless so none of that rotten egg funk that you sometimes smell at hot springs Hot Springs cool weather mountain air dense forests chunga is the perfect soul-cleansing get away from Beijing coming up next an utter utopia for artists and astronomers chunga proves to be marvelous in the day and magnificent at night yes it's magical 24/7 we've said goodbye to chunga's long hua County now and instead it's hello to craggy sing long located to the south west of chunga City Center sing long County neighbors Beijing's million district I'm so used to downtown Beijing 'he's unvarying flatness that seeing vertical landforms like this not that far away from the capital is rather arresting these lush and very precipitous cliff faces are characteristic of sing-along counties topography it looks like some China has come here with a massive cleaver and chopped up all the mountains right but they were just formed with the movement of the Earth's crust now I reckon they're pretty much like a Chinese ink painting do you think well I'm not saying that because I think so I know so this was once a forbidden area due to the Fung Shui rules applied to the nearby Eastern King tombs an imperial mausoleum complex but today the g11 to national highway runs through the area and between watching out for vehicles and gawking skywards at these major mounds of rock I spot a troupe of artists roadside naturally my curiosity is kindled forward you call a halt what yeah you can do it a tumor to mean this what I'm talking about yeah ego you yeah okay treated you it is a rather spectacular scene will be it slightly sullied by in myths of truck exhaust these days however what sing long County is perhaps most famous for is a human creation born of brilliant scientific minds and some big investment see that white monstrosity looming up ahead that is known as the most it's one of the world's biggest telescopes and it was the first ever large area telescope capable of observing four thousand stars at any one time so cool the most stands for large sky area multi-object fiber spectroscopic telescope it's also known as the core short jing telescope after the 13th century herb a born Chinese astronomer let's stick with Lamaze though shall we activity at this observation base began in 1968 the location was chosen for its relative atmospheric purity and its 250 or so clear nights each year the mosque was built in the 2000s with a purpose of surveying the structure of not just our galaxy but the whole universe this is a tad disappointing I guess this is the closest we can get to a mosque okay we can still scope out what's in the area and anyway the skies are pretty clear today so I reckon we can just use our good old eyes tonight at the foot of the hill atop which the observation based it's a chance across a budding business sing long stargazing town when completed it'll boast a stargazing station a planetarium hotels restaurants and camping grounds and it will serve as an educational platform and holiday destination for space enthusiasts anywhere on the geek spectrum the town is already functioning and it's immediately tickled my fancy I can feel the fluoride metal mouths nerd child inside me getting pretty excited I actually did enjoy trawling through science encyclopedias once didn't you in this part of northern China the weather is pretty predictable and with the help of such vast forested areas the air quality is good making it ideal for stargazing when night falls I start to see a sky that I miss dearly it's impossible to witness anything like this in Beijing and I'm certainly not the only happy camper here my new friend fun Lin originally from Guangdong is a frequent visitor to this town Oh Java yell I go with her today she's acting on a leash - OH her shoe for coca-cola continue you don't hear the sneezing she could be a medical matter each other beside your heart you are - well I thought I was happy that you allies seemed to put your shark well I obviously haven't retained much knowledge for my childhood indeed there are 12 constellations that carry the zodiac names like Taurus but there are 88 modern constellations in all in any case I'm rediscovering a passion here how cute and cozy is my great glass tent oh yeah whatever you want to call it well there are flowers on my bed the candles are lit very romantic too bad I'm spending tonight by myself hasn't been the longest day ever but I am dying to dive under these covers and fall asleep gazing at the Stars chunder and its chops what a scintillating city with so much history culture and nature I wonder what you are this is the same night sky the Qin Emperor saw at the chummed amounted resort centuries ago when they came for hunting on the grasslands and in the forests and with that thought it's time I say goodbye and good night my name is misery Li cheers for joining me and travelogue [Music] in the next episode of travelogue I set out on a spiritual journey to discover sin our learn holds an inspired Steve Jobs to create his iconic designs and how its principles help us to lead a more rewarding [Music]

Channel: CGTN

Views: 18,740

Rating: 4.8361773 out of 5

Keywords: CCTV, CGTN, CCTVNews, News, ChinaNews, WorldNews, China, Hebei, Travel, Culture, Architecture, History, Temples, HotSprings, Nature, Astronomy

Id: t8DUZNDS_cQ

Length: 30min 0sec (1800 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 12 2018