Chengde, city in northern China, in Hebei Province. It is located in mountains between the Huabei Pingyuan (North China Plain) and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The Je He, or Warm River, flows into the Wulie He at Chengde. The Je He is so named because nearby hot springs raise the water temperature. The city is an important commercial center and produces textiles and hemp. Heavy industry, using nearby supplies of coal and copper, was developed after 1949. Railroads connect Chengde with Inner Mongolia, Beijing, and Liaoning province. Chengde first came under Chinese control during the Liao dynasty (907-1125). After the fall of the Mongols'Yuan dynasty (1279-1368), the succeeding Ming emperors abandoned the region. The Manchus gained control in the 1620s, and the area became a base for their conquest of China in 1644. Under the Qing (Manchu) dynasty, which lasted until 1912, the city was known as Jehol. Kangxi, a Qing emperor, began building a summer retreat there in 1703. Two large Tibetan Buddhist temples and a number of smaller temples were also built. The Qing emperors received foreign delegations at Chengde, including the first delegation from Great Britain in 1793 during the reign of Qianlong (Ch'ien-lung). Chengde was captured by the Japanese and made part of Manchukuo, the Japanese puppet state, in 1933. In 1949 the region again came under Chinese control. Population (1991) 246,799.
