Chengde Hot Springs

Chengde Hot Springs is a thermal wellness destination near the imperial mountain resort city of Chengde in Hebei Province, northern China, where the Qing dynasty emperors built their summer capital — the Bishu Shanzhuang, or Mountain Resort for Escaping the Heat — a UNESCO World Heritage Site of extraordinary scale and historical significance that served as the primary summer residence of the Qing imperial court from the 18th century. The oligomineral thermal waters of the Chengde area draw on the geothermal resources of the Yanshan Mountain belt, and their use by imperial visitors for relaxation during the summer retreat season gave them an early connection to the highest levels of Chinese imperial culture. The surrounding landscape of dramatic granite peaks, the great lakes of the imperial garden, and the astonishing collection of temples built in the Tibetan, Mongolian, and Han Chinese styles on the mountains around the resort provide a historical and scenic context of unparalleled grandeur. Chengde Hot Springs offers therapeutic bathing enriched by proximity to one of China's most extraordinary imperial heritage sites in the cool Hebei mountain country.