Access to the island demands a passage over water, crossing a white, three-arched bridge that separates the mainland from this floating enclave. Known as Luohan Island, or Arhat Island, the landmass presents a curious architectural and historical paradox. For decades, this space served as the "Eastern Chan Forest," a dense religious tableau populated by five hundred life-sized statues of Arhats, gilded figures of the Three Saints, and a monumental "Buddha" inscription by the scholar Zhao Puchu. These figures defined the island's purpose, turning a geological formation into a crowded theater of worship.

Today, the visitor encounters a different reality. The plaster monks and golden deities have largely vanished, removed during recent renovations to restore the natural ecology. In their place stands a solitary stone marking Zhaoqing as the "China Inkstone Capital." This erasure of the explicit religious statuary has inadvertently restored the island’s original, more subtle spiritual quality. Without the crowded idols, the focus returns to the fundamental elements that define the Seven Star Crags: the jagged limestone profile of the surrounding peaks, the water that laps against the shore, and the stands of bald cypress trees that rust into deep autumnal reds. The island now functions less as a temple and more as a viewing platform, allowing the visitor to look outward at the "seven stars" rather than inward at manufactured icons. The absence of the statues serves as a powerful reminder of impermanence, leaving the visitor with the silence of the lake and the enduring weight of the mountains.