英文导游词:颐和园昆明湖景区

签10.颐和园昆明湖景区（昆明湖名称含义；西堤；东堤；湖中诸岛）

Kunming Lake covers the three quarters of the whole Summer Palace. the name of the lake came from “Kunming Pool” in Changan, made by Emperor Wu Di in the Han Dynasty for training his soldiers. Qing Emperor Qianlong just followed the example of Han Wu Di and gave the name Kunming Lake.

To the west of Kunming Lake, there is a long causeway on the Lake, which is called “West Dyke”, patterned after the Su Dyke in West Lake in Hangzhou. Along the Dyke there are six bridges separate the lake into two parts. The Jade Belt Bridge is the most beautiful bridge among the six bridges in the west dyke. Its high-arched body looks just like a jade belt, hence its name Jade Belt Bridge. The three Chinese characters, “Yu Dai Qiao” was in Emperor Qianlong’s handwriting. Most of the name of the Bridges have been derived from ancient poems to describe the beautiful surroundings, such as the Lake Boudary Bridge, the Local Song Bridge, the Mirror Bridge, the White Sike Bridge and the Willow Bridge.

Compare with the West Dyke, there also have many beatiful scenic spots in the East Dyke, such as the 17-Arch Bridgem the Spacious Pavilion, the Bronze Ox, the Heralding Spring Pavilion and the Wen Chang Belvedere.

The 17-Arch Bridge is the largest bridge in the Summer Palace. It links East Dyke at its eastern end, and connect South Lake Island at its western end. It is 150 meters long and 8 meters wide with 17 arches. There are 544 stone lions in different sizes and postures carved on the top of the balusters. Seen from a distance, it looks like a rainbow hanging across the water on the lake. The 17-Arch Bridge was first built in 1750, and was imitation of Marco Polo Bridge, but this bridge is more beautiful and have more stone lions. The number 17 was adopted because when seen from either the left or right, the ninth arch is in the middle, and in the old days, the number nine was the lucky number and favorite number in Chinese numerals.

The South Lake Island is the biggest island on Kunming Lake. It is located on the eastern part of Kunming Lake and linked with the East Dike by the 17-Arch Bridge. On the northern part of the South Lake Island, there is a big hall with a platform in the front. This was the place where Empress Dowager Cixi watched the navy training on the lake. The Temple of the Dragon King was built on the south Lake Island. Inside the temple, there is a statue of the Dragon King.The Temple of the Dragon King was built here, not only with the purpose of decorating the island, but also to control water. It is said that in 1787 Emperor Qianlong, at the age of 80, came here in person to pray for rain. Soon after, rain poured down in torrents that night. The next day, the emperor came here again to have a big ceremony to show his thanks to the Dragon King. Until the end of the Qing Dynasty, the emoperor came to the Temple of the Dragon King every year in person or sent his high ranking official to come here to worship.

The Spacious Pavilion is the biggest extanted ornamental Pavilion in the Ancient garden of China. It is located at the eastern end of the 17-Arch Bridge. It’s an eight-sided and double-eaved pavillion with an area of over 300 square meters that provided a wide field of vision, so it got the name Spacious Pavilion.

To the east of the 17-Arch Bridge we can see a Bronze Ox. In ancient China, the

ox was used as a symbol of flood control. The 80-word “Golden Ox Inscription”, written by Emperor Qianlong was cast on the back of the Bronze Ox, just toexplain its presence.

Yelu Chucai was a famous politician of the Yuan Dynasty and also a famous Mongolian general. During his lifetime, he made great contributions to the preservation of China’s interests. Yuan Emperor put him in an important position in the Yuan Court. Yelu Chucai died in 1244, He was buried at the foot of Jar Hill, and a temple was built to commemorate him. Yelu Chucai Temple consists of three parts: the coffin chamber of Yelu Chucai, the memorial halls and his stone statue.

Wen Chang Belvedere is a two-story tower building in the shape of a city gate. Inside the building, the bronze statue of the God of Literature Prosperity is enshrined.