Adjacent to the Kuoru Pavilion, the Seventeen-Arch Bridge of the Summer Palace was built in 1750, the 15th year of the reign of Emperor Qianlong. It connects the east causeway and the Nanhu Island in the west. With a length of over 150 meters, it is the longest bridge of its kind among the existing imperial gardens. Its name derives from its seventeen arches.

The reason why there are seventeen arches lies in the preference of the emperors. Counting from either end of the bridge, you will find that the arch in the middle is the 9th one. As ancient emperors were regarded as the highest authority, rulers of all times worshiped the number 9. The Seventeen-Arch Bridge is also associated with the number 9. There are more than 500 stone lions on the bridge head and the columns of the parapets. At the two ends of the bridge stand four powerful stone beasts, unquestionably the masterpieces of the stone sculptures in Qing Dynasty. There is a popular saying in Beijing that goes “stone lions on the Lugou Bridge are countless”. The fact is that the Seventeen-Arch Bridge has 58 more stone lions than the Lugou Bridge. If you are interested, you can try and count the stone lions on the Seventeen-Arch Bridge by yourself and find out whether you can get the right number. There are 487 stone lions on the Lugou Bridge, and so how many stone lions are there on the Seventeen-Arch Bridge? Yes, you’re right. There are 544 in total.