Chengde is a prefecture-level city in Hebei province, situated northeast of Beijing. It is best known as the site of the Mountain Resort, a vast imperial garden formerly used by the emperors of the Qing Dynasty. The urban center has around 450,000 people as of 2009. In 1703, Chengde was chosen by the Kangxi Emperor as the location for his summer residence. Constructed throughout the eighteenth century, the Mountain Resort (避暑山庄; literally "avoiding the heat mountain villa") was used by both the Yongzheng and Qianlong emperors. Since the seat of government followed the emperor, Chengde was a political center of the Chinese empire during these times.
