Our Trip to Beijing Municipality, China

4. Kunming lake at the Summer Palace

This is a view of Kunming Lake from Temple of Mount Sumeru. Along the lake for a long distance is the "Covered Way." The legend is that a young man and women start walking together at one end, by the time they reach the other end near the Marble Boat they will be engaged. The beams supporting the roof of the 728-meter (almost a half mile) promenade are decorated with scenes from legend and famous lake views, which Chinese visitors love to discuss and interpret. Most of these pictures were whitewashed during the Cultural Revolution because people were supposed to forget the legends. Those too damaged to be restored have now been replaced by stiff landscapes in an academic style. We enjoyed the walk even so.