Green Lake Park

Since the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), officials in Kunming spent efforts to erect pavilions in the Green Lake of Kunming. As the most popular park in the downtown of Kunming, the Green Lake attracts multitudes of visitors from home and abroad each year to witness its emerald-like water, weeping willows and red-beaked seagulls traveling long from Russia to spend winter since 1985. The lake is highlighted by two dams. Ruan Dam and Tang Dam. Ruan Dam, stretching from south to north, was first built in 1834 and sponsored by Ruan Yuan, the General Governor of Yunnan and Guzhou Provinces in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911); while Tang Dam, from east to west, was built in 1919 and sponsored by Tang Jiyao, the Military Governor of Yunnan Province in the early Republic of China (1912-1949). The Two dams divide the Green Lake into five sections, namely Huxindao (Isle in the middle of the lake) and Guanyulou (Fish-Viewing Pavilion) at the center; Shuiyuexuan (Water and Moon Pavilion) and Jinyudao (Golden Carp Isle) in the southeast; Zulidao (Bamboo Groves Isle) and Jiulongchi (Nine Dragons Pool) in the northeast; Huludao (Calabash Isle) and Jiuquqiao (Zigzag Bridge) in the south; and Haixinting (Lake Center Pavilion) in the west.