2. Plain Zone

Going north, you come to the plain zone where the Qing emperors held banquets and recreational activities. This area is mainly covered with grassland and woods. The plain zone is divided into three parts: an arboretum to the east with 28 various Mongolia tents; to the west is a piece of grassland where you can ride horses, and temples and other buildings lie to the north.

3. Mountain Zone

It is located in the northwestern part of the Resort and accounts for four fifths of the total area. There are four great valleys from north to south: Pine-cloud Valley, Pear Valley, Pine Valley and Filbert Valley. Here you can enjoy the mountain scenery completely, including undulating hills, flourishing woods, steep peaks, gurgling streams and white waterfalls. It is pleasantly cool here, a best place to spend the summer holidays. Architectures in this zone, adopting the styles both of the Southland and of North China, are of great artistic value. 

Northwest of the summer resort, about 240 kilometers away, are vast grasslands covered with luxuriant grass and trees -- a wonderful place to spend summers and hunt in the autumn. This is a world-famous imperial hunting ground, covering an area of 150 kilometers both from east to west and from south to north, some 600 kilometers in circumference. It is here that emperors Kangxi, Qianlong and Jiaqing hunted, trained their troops and had contact with the Mongolians and other neighboring minority peoples to improve their confidence in the Qing government.

Each year during the summer, the Qing emperors would relocate here for about five to six months. Here, they could not only discuss court affairs with the ministers but also enjoy themselves. Nowadays, once summer begins, most people think of the Chengde Summer Resort.

Apart from serving as a summer resort, the Qing government built up the resort to achieve some profound and lasting political and military objectives.