Marble Boat Monument

The Marble Boat, also called the Boat of Purity and Ease, is a lakeside pavilion at the Summer Palace in Beijing, sitting on the northern shore of Kunming Lake. It is a decorative structure designed to look like a two-tiered boat resting on a stone base.

The original structure was built in the 18th century; the current pavilion dates from a late-19th-century reconstruction and features a stone platform topped by a multilevel wooden superstructure painted and decorated to resemble a boat. Though called the Marble Boat, much of the visible upper structure is timber rather than solid marble.

It functions as an architectural feature within the imperial garden complex rather than a working vessel and is a common stop on visitor routes through the Summer Palace grounds.

Located in the Haidian District of northwest Beijing, the Marble Boat is within the UNESCO-listed Summer Palace parkland and is accessible from the palace pathways along Kunming Lake.

• Location within Summer Palace: Sits on the northern shore of Kunming Lake within Beijing's Summer Palace complex and is one of the palace's most photographed features.
• Construction history: Original structure dates to 1755; the extant pavilion was rebuilt in 1893 during renovations associated with the late Qing court.