Picturesque Chengde was a summer escape for emperors for centuries, and it is still the perfect place for a weekend break. Harvey Dzodin explores the town only a few hours from Beijing.

The Great Wall was originally built as early as the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC) to keep barbarians out but for many foreigners, psychologically at least, it also keeps us penned in when taking weekend trips. That's a pity because there is an historic gem of a city, Chengde, a picturesque 250 kilometer journey north From Beijing in Hebei province. It was chosen by Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) emperors for its strategic location and its natural air-conditioning as their escape from Beijing's oven-like summers.

This UNESCO World Heritage site boasts breathtaking terrain, a vast imperial summer resort and a plethora of picturesque temples. And perhaps best of all, its air is not merely cooler, but much cleaner than in the urban centers.

Temple of Universal Peace houses one of the biggest gold painted wooden Buddhas in the world, the Guanshiyin Bodhisattva with one thousand arms and one thousand eyes.

Chengde's Mountain Resort, the imperial summer resort, took most of the 18th century to build and spans the reigns of the Qing Dynasty emperors Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong. Dwarfing Beijing's Summer Palace, it is China's finest existing example of a temple complex and imperial garden.

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