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Chengde Attractions
Wai Ba Miao (Eight Outer Temples)
There were originally 12 temples, built between 1713 and 1780, and not all of those that remain are open to the public. Summer hours are May 1 to October 15; outside these times, some lesser temples may be shut. Several temples have features unique to Chengde. Most are extremely grand and suitably impressive (their purpose, after all), with successive halls on rising ground.
Tip: Puning Si and the other northern temples are on morning itineraries for tour groups, followed by Pule Si and the eastern temples in the afternoon. If you're traveling independently, work the other way around. You can also buy a tao piao for ¥80, which includes entry to Xumifushou Miao, the Potala Temple, Pule Si, and Anyuan Miao.
Bus no. 118, from Yingzi Dajie or the Mountain Resort main entrance, will take you to the northern group of temples.
8 Results
- Religious Site
Anyuan Miao
Built in 1764, this is another example of architectural diplomacy, built in imitation of a temple (now long-vanished) in Yining on China's remote western borders to please Mongol tribes that were resettled around Chengde. You'll almost certainly be the only visitor.Wai Bali Miao
- Landmark
Bishu Shanzhuang
While the "Winter Palace," as Beijing's Forbidden City was sometimes called, was the creation of the indigenous Ming dynasty, the summer palace at Chengde was entirely the creation of the Manchu Qing, and lay beyond the Great Wall in the direction of their homelands. Here the emperor…Wai Bali Miao - Religious Site
Pule Si
Tibetan advisors were employed in the design of this temple, built to receive annual tributary visits from defeated Mongol tribes. But the most striking element is the copy at the rear of the circular Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests from the Temple of Heaven. Shady benches around…Wai Bali Miao - Religious Site
Puning Si
The main Hall of Mahayana is impressive -- story upon story of red walls and yellow roofs, topped with a gold knob surrounded by four mini-pagoda-like points. More impressive still is its contents, a giant copper-colored wooden Guanyin figure more than 22m (73 ft.) high, the largest…Wai Bali Miao - Religious Site
Putuozongcheng Zhi Miao
Five minutes' walk west, the Potala Temple, its tapering windows and slab-sided walls obviously influenced by Tibet, is in no way "a copy of the Potala Temple in Lhasa", as local guides like to say. Many windows are blind, and several outbuildings are solid, just intended to add to…Wai Bali Miao - Religious Site
Puyou Si
Next door to Puning Si, this temple was closed for renovations when I last visited. The point of entering is to see the remainder of a collection of statues of the 500 arhats (the first followers of the Sakyamuni Buddha). Many of these were destroyed in 1937 during the Japanese…Wai Bali Miao - Hiking/Biking Route
Qingchui Feng
Bus no. 10's terminus is actually the cableway to Hammer Rock. The characters specifically mean a kind of hammer for striking a Buddhist musical instrument, but the shape of this clublike column will inevitably remind all who see it of something completely different. It reminds the…Wai Bali Miao - Religious Site
Xumifushou Miao
Partly inspired by Tashilhunpo in Tibet, this temple was constructed to make the Panchen Lama, number two in the Tibetan religious hierarchy, feel at home during a visit in 1780.
Chengde Shopping
A lively market takes over the upper part of Yingzi Dajie at night, interesting for its color rather than for what's on sale. The street also has several department stores with ground-floor supermarkets. Toward the post office there's a couple of bakeries where you can pick up snacks for the onward journey.
