Kunming Lake

This article is about the artificial lake in Beijing. For the natural lake, also known as Kunming Lake, which inspired it, see Dian Lake.
Kunming Lake
Kunming Lake
Kunming Lake is located in Beijing
Kunming Lake
Kunming Lake
LocationSummer Palace, Haidian District, Beijing
Coordinates39°59′30″N 116°16′20″E / 39.99167°N 116.27222°E / 39.99167; 116.27222
Typeartificial lake
Basin countriesChina
Surface area2.2 km2 (0.85 sq mi)[1]
Average depth1.5 m (4.9 ft)[1]
Max. depth3 m (9.8 ft)[1]

Kunming Lake (Chinese: 昆明湖; pinyin: Kūnmíng Hú) is the central lake on the grounds of the Summer Palace in Haidian District, Beijing, China. Together with the Longevity Hill, Kunming Lake forms the key landscape features of the Summer Palace gardens.

With an area of 2.2 km2 (0.8 sq mi), Kunming Lake covers approximately three-quarters of the Summer Palace grounds. It is quite shallow, with an average depth of only 1.5 meters (5 ft).[1]

Kunming Lake takes up about 75% of the park and contains many famous small islands and bridges, making it one of the top popular sites in the Summer Palace.

  1. ^ a b c d The Summer Palace - Lake Area Archived 2005-01-20 at the Wayback Machine