Symlink Copy a Directory Non-recursively

Use rsync's option -K (--keep-dirlinks). From the manpage:

 -K, --keep-dirlinks
      This  option  causes  the  receiving side  to  treat  a
      symlink  to  a  directory  as though  it  were  a  real
      directory, but only if it matches a real directory from
      the  sender.   Without   this  option,  the  receiver’s
      symlink  would  be deleted  and  replaced  with a  real
      directory.

      For example, suppose you  transfer a directory foo that
      contains a file file, but foo is a symlink to directory
      bar  on  the  receiver.  Without  --keep-dirlinks,  the
      receiver  deletes  symlink  foo,   recreates  it  as  a
      directory,  and   receives  the   file  into   the  new
      directory.   With --keep-dirlinks,  the receiver  keeps
      the symlink and file ends up in bar.

      One note  of caution:  if you  use --keep-dirlinks, you
      must  trust all  the symlinks  in the  copy!  If  it is
      possible  for an  untrusted  user to  create their  own
      symlink to  any directory,  the user  could then  (on a
      subsequent  copy)  replace  the  symlink  with  a  real
      directory and affect the  content of whatever directory
      the  symlink references.   For backup  copies, you  are
      better off using something like a bind mount instead of
      a symlink to modify your receiving hierarchy.

      See also  --copy-dirlinks for  an analogous  option for
      the sending side.

rsync -a --copy-unsafe-links src/ dest

From the man page:

--copy-unsafe-links

This tells rsync to copy the referent of symbolic links that point outside the copied tree. Absolute symlinks are also treated like ordinary files, and so are any symlinks in the source path itself when --relative is used. This option has no additional effect if --copy-links was also specified.

[...]

--links --copy-unsafe-links Turn all unsafe symlinks into files and duplicate all safe symlinks.