Garden Design
With its three large islands, Kunming Lake represents the traditional Chinese garden element of the "fairy hill within the sea". The three islands are named Nanhu (South Lake), Tuancheng, and Zaojian Island and are modelled after the three famous fairy tale islands Yingzhou (Chinese: 瀛洲), Penglai (Chinese: 蓬莱), and Fangzhang (Chinese: 方丈), where the eight immortals were said to live. Many features of Kunming Lake are inspired by natural scenery form the region south of the Yangtze River. In particular, the West Dike is a recreation of the famous Su Di Dike on the West Lake in Hangzhou. It cuts diagonally through the southern part of the lake. Like the Su Di Dike, the West Dike is connected through six bridges, each with its own distinctive style: Jiehu, Binfeng, Yudai, Jing, Lian, and Liu Bridge.
The largest bridge on Kunming Lake is the 17-Arch Bridge that connects the eastern shore with Nanhu Island, which represents the mythical Penglai Island. Close to the bridge on the eastern shore stands a bronze ox sculpture. According the Chinese legend, Yu the Great used an iron ox to prevent flooding. Since the bronze ox is located on the eastern dike of Kunming Lake in the direction of the Forbidden City, it was probably erected in order to protect the Forbidden City from the Lake's floods.
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