Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
BOATING AND SKATING ON KUNMING LAKE
Boating on Kunming Lake is a popular pursuit and well worth the money (boats can be
hired at any of the jetties for 40/hr). In addition to the jetty by the marble boat, you can
dock over below Longevity Hill, on the north side of the lake by the gallery. You can row
out to the two bridges spanning narrow stretches of water - the gracefully bowed Jade Belt
on the western side and the long, elegant Seventeen-Arch Bridge on the east. In winter, the
Chinese skate on the lake here - a spectacular sight, as some of the participants are really
proficient. Skates are available for rent by the lakeside (10/hr).
Wanshou Shan
About halfway down the Long Corridor you'll see an archway and a path that leads uphill
away from the lake. Head up the path and through two gates to the Paiyundian (Cloud Dis-
pelling Hall), which was used by Cixi as a venue for her infamously extravagant birthday
parties. The elegant objects on display here are twentieth-birthday presents to her from high
officials (the rather flattering oil painting of her was a present from the American artist
Hubert Vos). The largest building here, near the top of the hill, is the Foxiang Ge (Tower of
Buddhist Incense), a charming three-storey octagonal pagoda built in 1750. It commands a
panoramic view of the whole park, and deservedly the area around it is a popular picnic spot.
The Zhihuihai (Sea of Wisdom Hall), on top of the hill, is strikingly different in style from
the other buildings: there's not a single beam or column, and it's tiled in green and yellow
ceramic tiles and dotted with niches holding Buddha statues.
Garden of Harmonious Interests
At the foot of the hill on the far (north) side lies a souvenir market and the little-visited but
very attractive back lake. Walk east along the side of this lake for 500m and you arrive at
the GardenofHarmoniousInterests , a pretty collection of lotus-filled ponds and pavilions
connected by bridges. Cixi used to fish from the large central pavilion; to keep her sweet, eu-
nuchs dived in and attached fish to her hook. The bridge up to the pavilion is called “Know
the Fish Bridge” after an argument that took place here between two Ming-dynasty philo-
sophers: one declared that the fish he could see were happy; the other snorted, “How could
you know? You're not a fish”, whereupon the first countered, “You're not me, so how do you
know I don't know?”
The south of the park
The scenery is wilder and the crowds thinner at the southern part of Kunming Lake, a pleasant
fifteen-minute walk. Should you need a destination, the main attraction to head for is the
white Seventeen-Arch Bridge , 150m long and topped with 544 cute, vaguely canine lions,
each with a slightly different posture. The bridge leads to South Lake Island , where Qian-
long used to review his navy, and which holds a brace of fine halls, most striking of which is
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