An ornamental structure in classical Chinese landscaping, shifang (marble boat) is also popularly known as shichuan (which means the same thing) or, in southern China, hanchuan (land boat). A marble boat usually has its underwater base and its body built of stone and its on-deck cabins of wood in the form of a pavilion (xuan, xie or lou); it may also have a cabin at the bow and at the stern, just like a model of the "official boat" of ancient times. Normally built near the shore, it is accessible by means of a stone bridge. Sightseers go aboard to appreciate the surrounding scenery, feeling as if they were gently water-borne on a real boat.

The largest existing marble boat in China is the one of 36 meters in the Summer Palace of Beijing. Popularly known as the Marble Boat, its official name Qingyanfang has long fallen into oblivion. First built in A.D. 1755 completely of white stones during the reign of Emperor Qianlong, it was meant to be a water-surface belvedere for the imperial family as well as a symbol of the rockfirm solidarity of the imperial power. The original wood cabin-house was burnt down by the Anglo-French Allied Forces in 1860. The present structure, rebuilt in 1893 during the reign of Guangxu, was supposed to be patterned after the cabin-house on a Western vessel, the windows paned with stained glass and the floor paved with enameled tiles. It is generally believed that the powerful Empress Dowager Cixi watched from the Marble Boat the exercise of naval units on the lake. It is now one of the tourist attractions in the park.

Similar stone boats but of smaller sizes can be seen in the imperial palace of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (1851-1864) in Nanjing, in three private gardens of Suzhou and on Lake Shouxihu (Slender West Lake) of Yangzhou.

Source: arts.cultural-china.com