the mountain resort to relax themselves and escape from the high temperature in Beijing. The whole Resort can be divided into three areas which are lakes area, plains area and hills area. The lakes area, which includes 8 lakes, covers an area of 496,000 square meters. The plains area covers an area of 607,000 square meters. The emperors held horse races and hunted in the area. The largest area of the three is the hills area. It covers an area of 4,435,000 square meters. Hundreds of palaces and temples were built on the hills in this area. The elaborate Mountain Resort features large parks with lakes, pagodas, and palaces ringed by a wall. Outside the wall are the Eight Outer Temples (), built in varying architectural styles drawn from throughout China. One of the best-known of these is the Putuo Zongcheng Temple, built to resemble the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet. The resort and outlying temples were made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994. The nearby Puning Temple, built in 1755, houses the world's tallest wooden statue of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara. Another popular attraction of the Chengde area is Sledgehammer Peak (), a large rock formation in the shape of an inverted sledgehammer. A variety of other mountains, valleys, and grasslands lie within the borders of the city. Gallery Sister cities Chengde has city partnerships with the following locations: Santo André, São Paulo, Brazil Takasaki, Gunma, Japan Dakota County, Minnesota, United States Kashiwa, Chiba, Japan References Citations Bibliography . . External links Chengde Government Online Cities in Hebei Prefecture-level divisions of Hebei Populated places established in the 18th century