The Mountain Resort was built from 1703 AD to 1792 AD. Construction work continued from Emperor Kangxi,Emperor Yongzhengto Emperor Qianlong period, the total 89 years to complete. As the summer resort for Qing emperors,They came here to escapefrom the summer heat in Beijing,and also for the purposes of airsdealing with the national affairs, paying worship to Buddhas and buliding good relationship with the ethnic groups in order to strengthen the border defense. Covering a total area of 5,640,000 square meters,the Mountain Resort is the world largest existing imperial garden and it is divided into four sections: the northwest of the resort is mountainarea,the southeast is the lake area and the northeast is the plain area.The overall shape looks just like the Chinese territory.The Mountain Resort takes a natural style design without too much artificial decorations. There are more than 120 construction complexes laid out in the mountains,lakes and the trees. It com-bines thelandscape styles of elegance in the south and significance in the north of China collecting the scenic beauties of the whole countryin one garden. It was issued as the State-level Key Cultural Heritage Conservation Unit by the State Council in 1961. The Mountain Resort and the Outlying Temples was listed as the World Heritage Site by the UNESCO in 1994.
