Black Dragon Pool Park

Also known as Jade Dragon Park, Black Dragon Pool Park was built in the second year of the reign of Emperor Qianlong (1737) at the foot of Elephant Mountain in the north of Lijiang Old Town. It is the best spot to capture the most beautiful pictures of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, appreciate ancient architecture in the class of national treasures, and enjoy a bird’s eye view of the whole of Lijiang Old Town from above Elephant Mountain.

Black Dragon Pool Park is also the water catchment area for Lijiang Old Town.

Highlights of Black Dragon Pool Park

Main Architectural Examples

Deyue Tower

A number of interesting architectural examples in the park are worth visiting. Longshen Temple includes a theatre pavilion, and Deyue Tower is the major piece of architecture in the park. Facing west, Longshen Temple is a quadrangle containing five wells, an arched gateway, two wing rooms and a main hall. On top of the arched gateway, a four-character plaque reads Tianguang Yunying in Chinese, which describes beautiful scenery with the sky and clouds reflecting on the water.

Due to historical causes, many important cultural relics around Lijiang were removed and brought here. Four stone lions which originally belonged to Zhongyi Gate of the Mu’s Mansion and Wenming Gate which originally belonged to Confucius Temple now make up the gate of Black Dragon Pool Park. Five-Phoenix Tower, also known as Fayun Pavilion, which was originally built in Fuguo Temple of Zhi Mountain, was removed to Black Dragon Pool Park in 1979. There are more of such cases, quite a number of which involve cultural relics of national level.

Apart from all the cultural relics, the park also houses Dongba Culture Research Institute and Dongba Culture Museum. Dongba Culture Museum is the first county-level museum in Yunnan Province. Serving as one of the major platforms for the opening up of Lijiang Old Town, it is one of the best places to visit for visitors who are interested in learning about Lijiang Culture.

With the companion of ancient architecture, Black Dragon Pool and the snow mountain, it’s a great place to take a pleasurable walk, to relax, and to do some morning exercises.

The beautiful scenery of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain

Taking Pictures of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain

Black Jade Dragon Snow Mountain is the best spot to take pictures of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. The light in the morning and at dusk has been found to be the best to shoot pictures of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, especially when the blue sky, white clouds and the snow mountain are reflected on the water on clear days, unfolding before you as a picturesque view of nature.