Chengde Puning Airport — Chengde, China

Chengde Puning Airport opened to help modernize travel to a city whose imperial past draws visitors from across China: Chengde's Mountain Resort and its ring of outlying temples, built as a summer retreat for Qing dynasty emperors, form one of the country's most significant UNESCO World Heritage complexes. Named partly for the nearby Puning Temple, a still-active Buddhist site famed for housing one of the world's tallest wooden statues, CDE gives travelers an alternative to the long road trip from Beijing, roughly northeast across mountainous Hebei province. Domestic carriers operate a modest schedule connecting Chengde to major Chinese cities, supporting both tourism and the area's mining and agricultural industries.