Statue

{On a nearby ornamental base:}
2012 London Polo. By Huang Jian, China
China is the birthplace of ancient polo which was popular among royal families during the Tang Dynasty. The U.K. gave birth to modern polo, which became an Olympic sport in 1908 and popular all over the world. In 2008, famous Chinese sculptress Huang Jian created for the Beijing Olympic Games 'Emperor Ming of Tang and his concubine Yang Yuhuan playing polo', the only permanent large sculpture in the Beijing Olympic Park. Four years later, Huang created the sculpture of '2012 London Polo', in which Chinese lovers of ancient polo and British lovers of modern polo travel through time and space to gather in the London Olympic Park for a friendly polo match. 2012 marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the U.K. and is also the year for the London Olympic Games. The sculpture symbolises the friendship and cultural exchange between the two countries.

(There is also an inscription in Chinese on the base, which presumably says the same thing).