Kunming Lake of the Summer Palace

It was originally a natural lake formed by the convergence of many springs in the northwest suburbs of Beijing, and was once known as Dabo Lake and Wengshanbo. After the Yuan Dynasty established the capital in Beijing, in order to promote canal transport, under the auspices of water conservancy expert Guo Shoujing, the spring water of Changping Shenshan and the flowing water along the way were diverted into the lake, becoming a reservoir for canal transportation in the capital. In the Ming Dynasty, lotus flowers were planted in the lake, rice was planted in the surrounding paddy fields, and there were temples and pavilions beside the lake, which resembled the scenery of Jiangnan, so it had the reputation of West Lake and West Lake scenery. When Emperor Qianlong built Qingyi Garden, he expanded the lake to its current scale, and named it Kunming Lake after the story of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty excavating Kunming Pond in Chang'an to practice water battles, with a total area of more than 200 hectares, accounting for about three-quarters of the total area of the park. According to the water management method of "one pond and three mountains" in China's royal gardens, there are three central islands in the lake: "Nanhu Island", "Zhijingge Island" and "Zaojiantang Island", and the West Dike is built in imitation of the Su Dike of Hangzhou West Lake. The sparkling lake, winding embankments, scattered islands, and various buildings hidden in the lakeside scenery form a stunning scenery with water as the main body in the Summer Palace. In the 90s of the twentieth century, multidisciplinary analysis and research proved that the lake has a history of 3,500 years.