Chengde Mountain Estate, otherwise known as Rehe Temporary Palace, is situated in Chengde city of Hebei province, 250 kilometers away from Beijing. Its construction commenced in 1730. When Emperor Kangxi ordered to construct the Mountain Estate, he had two purposes: One was to use it as a place for military exercises for pacifying the vassal states. The other was to use it as a political center for uniting the nationalities to consolidate the monarchy.
The Mountain Estates located amidst mountains in Chengde. It stretches among the Lion Mountain, the Martyr Mountain and the Vast-Kindness Mountain. It was the largest royal 
garden, occupying and area of 560 hectares, encircled by eight temples including Manjusri Sculpture Temple and Samantabhadra Temple. There are thirty six scenic spots put up in the reign of Emperor Kangxi and thirty six other scenic spots put up in the reign of Emperor Qianlong.
The Mountain Estate was constructed pursuant to three conceptions: First, to show the emperor’s benevolence for the people, second, to rectify the glossiness with plainness, and to blend it with the natural landscape, third, to collect choice specimens. The Guangyuan Palace on a mountain top symbolized Mount Tai. The Lakes and Isles Area symbolized waterscapes south of the Yangtze-River. Thousands of Mongolian tents symbolized Mongolian grassland. The palaces in the Mountain Eastern Palace were used by the emperor to administer state affairs, including the Eastern Palace and the Main Palace, both of 
which were constructed symmetrically along an axis and were several rows deep.
The Lake and Isles Area contains seven lakes with shoals , islets ,waterside pavilions, dykes and bridges . The three islets ,the Moonlight River Sound Islet , the Green Ring Islet and the Cool Summerless Islet are connected by dykes and shaped like three glossy ganoderma lucidum or three patches of cloud drifting over the water . Moonlight-River Sound Islet was constructed for appreciating the moon and the sound of the river flow at night . Besides , on the Green-Lotus Islet is the Misty-Rain Pavilion imitating the pavilion with the same name in Jiaxing city of Zhejiang Province ; the Lesser Gold Hill Islet was constructed in imitation of the Gold Hill Islet in Zhenjiang city ; and the Water-Heart Pavilion was so designated , because it strode across two dykes.
The east of the Plains Area was “Ten-Thousand-Tree Garden”. The west of the Plains Area was called the “Horse Racing Grassland” , where Emperor Qianlong used to hold barbecues with the chieftains of minorities .
The Mountain Area was strewn with mountains and ravines interspaced with tens of classic gardens , most of which no longer exist now .
Samantabhadra Temple lies to the north of Chengde Mountain Estate . It imitates the Potala Palace in Tibet , built 
against the mountainous terrain and is the largest of the eight outer temples , occupying 22hectaves of ground .
It is typical temple garden symbolizing the Buddhist holy land. It was constructed by Emperor or Qianlong for purposes : One was to celebrate his sixtieth birthday and his mother’s eightieth birthday . The other was to improve his relation with the Dalai Lama .
The garden architectures in this temple lean against the mountainous terrain . Notably , the main building Grand Red Terrace situated on the summit enjoys a panoramic view of the scenery beyond the temple . The scenic spots in the temple comprise three units : The mountain foot is the starting point of Buddhist sights . Half way up the mountain is the turning point . The peak is the climax .
