One of the pavilions of Bishu Shanzhuang, the Imperial Summer Villa in Chengde. Hebei Province,China.

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Bishu Shanzhuang, also known as the Imperial Summer Villa and the Mountain Resort, is the centerpiece of Chengde's historical imperial resort area. It's also the biggest Imperial Garden in China, earning it a listing as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994. The complex's walls enclose sq km ( sq mi) of gardens, lakes and buildings that housed a succession of Qing emperors, serving as a secondary palace where affairs of state were conducted when Beijing's Forbidden City grew too uncomfortably hot in the summer ("Bishu Shanzhuang" translates roughly to "Flee the Heat Mountain Resort"). The Manchu Qing emperors, as something of outsiders to predominantly Han China, were greatly concerned with the question of how to rule a vast, multi-ethnic nation, and Chengde embodies the nature of their approach: The grounds of Bishu Shanzhuang symbolically bring the diversity of China together in a tidy, unified package—buildings and gardens allude to famous landscapes and structures around China, as well as the dominions of the Tibetans, Mongolians and other members of contemporary China's ethnic minorities.

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Size: 2832px × 4256px
Location: Asia Peoples Republic of China Hebei Province Chengde
Photo credit: © Bert de Ruiter / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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