Summer palace - Marble boat

The first boat was built by emperor Qianlong (the one that had the palace built) in 1755 to symbolize the empire : as solid as marble. Each year, the 8th day of the 4th lunar month, with the empress Xiaosheng, the emperor Qianlong released fishes as buddhist charity action.
Destroyed by the British and French troops in 1860, it had been rebuilt at the request of the empress Cixi in 1893.