Chengde
The Emperors' Mountain Resort
Portrait
The Kangxi and Qianlong emperors spent months each year at Chengde, receiving Mongol and Tibetan leaders in a mountain resort surrounded by temples built in Tibetan, Mongol and Han styles — architecture as diplomacy, since the guests were meant to feel the empire could contain them. The Putuo Zongcheng temple is a reduced copy of the Potala Palace.
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