traveldk.com

This impressive hall was the residence of the Empress Cixi. It has supposedly been left just as it was at the time of her death in 1908, complete with its Qing dynasty-era furniture.

This pretty complex of roofed corridors, small pavilions, rock gardens and pools also includes Cixi’s private three-story theater. The buildings now contain Qing-era artifacts, from vehicles to costumes and glassware.

From the Garden of Virtue and Harmony the aptly named Long Corridor zigzags along the shore of the lake, interrupted along its length by four pavilions. The ceilings and beams of this corridor are decorated with over 14,000 scenic paintings.

At around the half-way point of the Long Corridor a series of buildings ascends the slopes of artificially created Longevity Hill. The start of the sequence is marked at the lakeside by a very fine decorative gate, or pailou.

Toward the peak of Longevity Hill rises this prominent octagonal tower. The stiff climb is rewarded with views from the balcony over the yellow roofs of the halls and pavilions to the lake below.

North of the Fragrance of the Buddha tower is a green- and yellow-tiled temple decorated with glazed Buddhist effigies, many of which have sadly been vandalized.

Cixi paid for this extravagant folly with funds meant for the modernization of the Imperial Navy. The super-structure of the boat is made of wood painted white to look like marble. Boat trips to South Lake Island depart from a neighboring jetty.

At the foot of Longevity Hill on its north side is Suzhou Street, a shopping street built for the amusement of the Qianlong emperor, his concubines and eunuchs, who would play at being shoppers, shopkeepers, and pickpockets.

Crowning this small island on the south side of Kunming Lake is the Dragon King Temple (Longwang Miao), which is dedicated to the god of rivers, seas, and rain.

South Lake Island is connected to the eastern shore by an elegant bridge with a marble lion crowning each of the 544 balusters along its length, all supposedly individual. A large bronze ox, dating back to 1755 but looking entirely modern, reposes on the eastern shore.