From the Kangxi reign (1703) onward, Qing emperors spent summers at
避暑山庄 in Chengde, conducting diplomacy with Mongol and Tibetan leaders under the cover of a hunting holiday. The surrounding
外八庙 temple complex deliberately mimics Tibetan and Mongolian architecture — the whole site is a UNESCO World Heritage listing. Qianlong died here in 1799; the 1860 treaty allowing foreign legations in Beijing was also signed in Chengde after the Xianfeng emperor fled there during the Second Opium War.
