When visiting the Outer Court, you may find stone carvings along the terrace leading to the halls. The one behind the Hall of Preserving Harmony  is the largest one in the palace. This huge stone carving was sculpted of bluestone in the Ming Dynasty (1638-1644) and was carved anew in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). It is 16.57 meters (54.36 feet) long, 3.07 meters (10.07 feet) wide and 1.7 meters (5.6 feet) thick. No wonder it is weighs around 250 tons. This sculpture depicts nine dragons soaring into clouds and waves pounding cliffs.

This giant stone itself has an intriguing story. It was moved to the palace from the Fangshan District. This district is approximately 70 kilometers (43.5 miles) away and there is no waterway between it and downtown Beijing. The bulky stone was pulled the entire distance, by 20,000 laborers. Along the way wells were dug every 0.5 kilometer (0.31 mile), to provide drinking water for the laborers. On very cold days, water was poured on the roads to make them icy, so that the stone could be towed more easily. It took twenty-eight days to accomplish such a difficult task!

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