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Day 06: 06 December 2007 - Beijing to Chengde
At Zheng Yang Men (正阳门); emperors from Qing Dynasty walked past these gates (upon exit from the Forbidden City) to the Temple of Heaven, signifying "光明正大"; now this gate is a feng shui museum, opened to public only for 72 days in a year; so we were lucky to visit
We took a 4-hour bus ride to Chengde, with the main purpose to visit the Chengde Imperial Palace (also known as the Mountain Resort) or 避暑山庄.
Chengde was freezing cold! Beijing was about 5 degrees celsius, yet Chengde was about minus 10. So unprepared as I was, I was freezing and unzipping my pants in toilet for a pee proved to be difficult as my hands were numbed!
Little Potala Palace built by Emperor Qianlong for his mother on her 80th birthday
At the entrance of Chengde Imperial Palace
Construction of the Imperial Palace began in 1703 under the rule of Emperor Kang Xi and was completed in 1792 under the rule of Emperor Qian Long, covering an area of an area of 5.64 million square meters, twice the size of the Summer Palace in Beijing.
Every summer, the emperor, empress and palace officials would move here from Beijing to escape from the heat in the city.
The palace complexes are built using 楠木 mainly transported from Guizhou, with its natural fragrance properties that could keep out termites from breeding so that the emperor could work in peace
Me standing on a frozen lake
To gear myself for the bitterly cold winter, I worn all four the following dayLabels: Beijing
