Imperial Summer Palace of Mountain Resort
Imperial Summer Palace of Mountain Resort
4.5
8:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Monday
8:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Tuesday
8:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Wednesday
8:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Thursday
8:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Friday
8:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Saturday
8:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Sunday
8:00 AM - 5:30 PM
About
China's largest imperial garden and the former summer capital of the Qing dynasty is surrounded by lakes, forest and mountains.
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
4.5
428 reviews
Excellent
197
Very good
160
Average
59
Poor
8
Terrible
3
An
2 contributions
Jul 2020
The transportation is very convenient because the high-speed railway from Beijing to Chengde has been opened to traffic. After exiting the high-speed railway station, follow the signs to the bus stop which is nearer than taxi-rank. It takes about 40 minutes to get to the Fire Temple, and 3 minutes to walk to the Lizheng Gate, the main gate of the Summer Resort.
The Summer Resort Museum, with its rich historical and cultural value, is highly recommended for those who are interested in history. The museum's hanging screen displays are all national treasures. The watch museum is no inferior to the Palace Museum in Beijing. The museum with a large number of photos of the Empress Dowager Cixi is special.
Not native of Chengde can apply for an annual card to the resort with 180 yuan, which can be used for unlimited times within 365 days.
The Summer Resort Museum, with its rich historical and cultural value, is highly recommended for those who are interested in history. The museum's hanging screen displays are all national treasures. The watch museum is no inferior to the Palace Museum in Beijing. The museum with a large number of photos of the Empress Dowager Cixi is special.
Not native of Chengde can apply for an annual card to the resort with 180 yuan, which can be used for unlimited times within 365 days.
Written June 5, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
nationalb
Baltimore, MD6 contributions
Chendge Mountain Resort rewards the traveler who has come from Beijing, perhaps by crowded bus, to visit its grounds. The resort is in the mountains, so has temples located up in the hills. You can climb to these or take a short tour by a cart you can buy a ticket for by the main entrance. In the hills, you will see lots of deer and birds. These were the old hunting grounds for the emperor to do his hunting and you can clearly see the appeal of this land. The other part of the resort can be viewed leisurely on foot and includes a lake and the palaces. There are plenty of historical markings in Chinese and English. There were people playing traditional instruments, which added to the experience of the palace. If you like hiking, you can climb to pagodas on hilltops for stunning views of Chengde city.
You could easily visit this place all day long and still have more to view.
The town itself is lively and great to walk around in the day and evening. There are outlying temples that you can hire a taxi cheaply to visit. There is also sledge hammer peak and other outdoor attractions. Keep in mind that very little english is spoken here. When I went, I ran into three girls who were teaching English there but not any other Westerners. The people were friendly and helpful and really enjoyed taking my picture.
You could easily visit this place all day long and still have more to view.
The town itself is lively and great to walk around in the day and evening. There are outlying temples that you can hire a taxi cheaply to visit. There is also sledge hammer peak and other outdoor attractions. Keep in mind that very little english is spoken here. When I went, I ran into three girls who were teaching English there but not any other Westerners. The people were friendly and helpful and really enjoyed taking my picture.
Written December 1, 2010
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
JFChristin
Singapore, Singapore74 contributions
Apr 2015 • Couples
It's an important place to measure the achievement and life of the Qing density emperors; we did it in April, advantage being that it is low season, but not as magnificent as it should be when the gardens are green...
Written April 5, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Annsl
Malaysia25 contributions
Apr 2013
We went there yesterday. The whole place is still under renovation- such a disappointment! We had to walk through construction areas and almost all the buildings were covered wt mesh and scaffoldings so there's not much to see except the beautiful lakes. So wait till the renovations are done before you pay RMB120 to enter the place!
Written April 15, 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
bamboo401
Beijing31 contributions
Absolutely beautiful and absolutely huge! Lots of deer roaming around too...
Plenty of vendors selling drinks, so no need to bring huge stocks of water.
Make sure to take strollers for children aged 5 and under - our 4 year old doesn't use a stroller anymore, but we were really glad we borrowed one for this trip - and really needed it!
From the south entrance, if you head east, there is a children's fairground complete with carousel, bumper cars etc. Some of these rides are pretty old, so use your judgement.
At the car park towards the middle of the compound there is a Yurt Hotel - bit of a tourist trap but interesting nevertheless. Had lunch there and the food was actually pretty good - especially the mutton and onion with lots of spices and the "bing" oil and wheat pancakes.
Lodging in yurts is very cheap but quite basic, probably fun with slightly older kids.
N.B. We found the kids had had enough after 4 hours, though we would have happily stayed longer. Also, the 8 Outer Temples are not accessible with strollers, so unless you've got backpacks for little ones, you'll have to give that a miss too.
The rest of Chengde is nothing special however....
Plenty of vendors selling drinks, so no need to bring huge stocks of water.
Make sure to take strollers for children aged 5 and under - our 4 year old doesn't use a stroller anymore, but we were really glad we borrowed one for this trip - and really needed it!
From the south entrance, if you head east, there is a children's fairground complete with carousel, bumper cars etc. Some of these rides are pretty old, so use your judgement.
At the car park towards the middle of the compound there is a Yurt Hotel - bit of a tourist trap but interesting nevertheless. Had lunch there and the food was actually pretty good - especially the mutton and onion with lots of spices and the "bing" oil and wheat pancakes.
Lodging in yurts is very cheap but quite basic, probably fun with slightly older kids.
N.B. We found the kids had had enough after 4 hours, though we would have happily stayed longer. Also, the 8 Outer Temples are not accessible with strollers, so unless you've got backpacks for little ones, you'll have to give that a miss too.
The rest of Chengde is nothing special however....
Written June 22, 2008
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Della G
Coquitlam, Canada794 contributions
Mar 2018 • Family
This summer palace hunting resort of the Qing emperor is probably the highlight of the city of Chende. We visited this massive area in mid spring and some of the lakes were still frozen. It must be quite a retreat for the imperial family to get away from the capital city before the summer heat began. Not really that ancient as it was built during the 1700's over a period of eighty plus years. This summer retreat was home to three Qing emperors over the course of their reign. It has been designated as a World Heritage site by UNESCO. The complex is very much a duplicate of the Forbidden City in Beijing except it is a lot smaller. The grounds have many designated scenic areas with landscape gardens, lakes and pavilions replicated from different scenic spots scattered around China. A very idyllic setting. Not inundated with tourists.
Very hard to explore all areas in half a day. Very much like the Summer palace in Beijing. Gets very tiring after three hours.
Very hard to explore all areas in half a day. Very much like the Summer palace in Beijing. Gets very tiring after three hours.
Written June 14, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
yummymummy71
Melbourne, Australia27 contributions
Dec 2014
Be prepared - it gets cold up there, but a beautiful place to walk around on a sunny day especially after experiencing the chaos and grime of Beijing
Written February 26, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
simks
Singapore, Singapore26 contributions
Nov 2014 • Friends
Was here during late autumn and it was a lovely walk. Might have been even better earlier in autumn before most of the leaves have shed. Especially like the lakes providing nice reflections of the beautiful autumn colors and houses/pavillions/etc. The park is huge so may take a long time to walk. Alternatively, you can pay to take the electric cart to ferry you to various areas of the park.
Written January 22, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Wunderlust2K10
Toronto, Canada75 contributions
Sept 2011 • Couples
The resort grounds are huge. You can spend hours just walking and not cover half of it. Inside, there are 36 marked attractions (mostly photo ops), There are trams moving people around if you get tired.
Few tips...
1) If you have a fear of fast moving driving along narrow roads, avoid the mountain top tour.
2) Make sure you bring some water with you. There were a few water stalls, however there are sections where there are no stalls to buy at. Food is a good idea as well.
Few tips...
1) If you have a fear of fast moving driving along narrow roads, avoid the mountain top tour.
2) Make sure you bring some water with you. There were a few water stalls, however there are sections where there are no stalls to buy at. Food is a good idea as well.
Written September 29, 2011
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
GoCardinal
Washington DC25 contributions
May 2011
We went to see the Mountain Villa and also to see what a small/mid-size city is like in China. The Mountain Villa was pretty boring...just a big open park with ponds etc and the occasional imperial site...but nothing compared to the Forbidden City and Summer Palace in Beijing. Some of the outer temples are worth seeing though. We rented bikes and hit those when we got sick of the Mountain Villa.
Chengde is growing so fast, it's interesting to see. When you hear about how fast China is growing, this is a great depiction so worth seeing for that reason. It's also just a nice city, very walkable, right next to a river, random dancing and celebrations in the street.
The city does not cater to international tourists (yet) so if you don't speak Mandarin (we don't), it can be an issue. Not much English was spoken but we got by with pointing and gesturing because people were generally helpful and nice about it. Many people also seemed amused by our presence (we're both blonde) and took quite a few pictures of us, which was fun.
Chengde is growing so fast, it's interesting to see. When you hear about how fast China is growing, this is a great depiction so worth seeing for that reason. It's also just a nice city, very walkable, right next to a river, random dancing and celebrations in the street.
The city does not cater to international tourists (yet) so if you don't speak Mandarin (we don't), it can be an issue. Not much English was spoken but we got by with pointing and gesturing because people were generally helpful and nice about it. Many people also seemed amused by our presence (we're both blonde) and took quite a few pictures of us, which was fun.
Written June 3, 2011
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Yes, I would say much of it is wheelchair friendly - I have been. You can walk miles on the flat. Not sure you can get on boats or train but they were not running the day we went. We walked 9 miles round the place. We much preferred the outer temples though and there you would struggle as there are dozens of steps. If you are staying in Beijing the city planning museum is great and wheelchair friendly. If I was in a wheelchair I'd probably skip chengde and spend another day at the summer palace as just more impressive, cheaper. A lot of the art district in Beijing and the egg is wheelchair friendly too. I'd skip chengde if I was going out of my way to go.
Written June 10, 2017
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