Lake Dian, also known as Kunming Lake or the Pond of Kunming and in ancient times as the Marsh of Southern Yunnan, is a scenic stretch of water situated on a plateau to the southwest of the City of Kunming. Stretching 40 km north to south and eight km east to west, it sits at an elevation of 1886 metres above sea level, looking like a vast sea extending to the distant horizons. Dominated by the two mountains of Jin'Ma or Golden Horse and Bi'Ji or Emerald Chicken, respectively on the east and the west, it is a beautiful azure lake, sometimes covered in mists and fog and dotted here and there by white sails. Because of it scenic charm, it has the reputation of being "a gem on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau."
In the Ming Dynasty (1368---1644) the scholar Yang Shen composed the following poem entitled "Glimpses of Spring" to celebrate the beautiful scenery here:
A windy lake is Dian yet never any dust is seen,
The newly green isle Ding in the far horizon lies.
Beauty one enjoys here as in land south of the Yangtse River,
A vast ripply lake in spring with distant foam lily white.
Indeed when one visits Lake Dian in spring, he will find himself in a quiet wooded world where he can bask in the sweet warm breezes of the season. The little isle of Dingzhou is covered all over with green plant life interspersed here and there with patches of blooming bright-coloured flowers while on the lake surface wavelets spread and beat gently against the shores, tossing up glittering spray and white foam. Lake Dian is indeed an enchanting place to visit in spring.

If one ascends to what is known as the Dragon Gate up on the Western Hills and looks down, one has a panoramic view of the azure lake, slightly wrinkled in the winds and extending to the distant horizon.

If one runs the eye over the lake from Da'Guan'Lou or Grand View Mansion standing on the northern bank of Lake Dian, he has a different kind of visual experience. The waters seem to be undulating in tight to where one stands while small boats are seen dallying in the light haze over the azure lake. The sunset scene here is particularly fascinating when the beams of the dipping sun somehow filter through the mist and fog to create a seductively enchanting scene.

If one goes boating on the lake, drifting along aimlessly on the blue waters amidst the reflections of the white clouds in the sky, one may suddenly realize how amazingly vast is the sky above. If it happens to be raining, the boundless lake will half lose itself in misty drizzles and the sky and the waters will be merging with each other, adding somehow to the scenic charm of the haze-veiled lake.

Of the many scenic attractions of Kunming, the one most noteworthy is the Western Hills lying on the west bank of Lake Dian. The Western Hills are also known as Bi'Ji'Shan or the Emerald Chicken Mountain. Legend has it that there is once a young woman whose husband is kidnapped and taken to a remote place as a slave. Missing her husband terribly, she cried inconsolably day and night. In the end her tears flow together to form Lake Dian and she herself falls on her back to become the Western Hills. Then there is a phoenix that alights on the spot to mourn over her which people mistake for a chicken. Hence the name Emerald Chicken Mountain. As the Western Hills also look like a sleeping Buddha, it is also known as the Sleeping Buddha Mountain. The southern part of the Western Hills is featured by sheer precipitous cliffs while the northern part is featured by deep and secluded ravines. In the hills are several famous temples. One is Hua'Ting'Si or the Flower Pavilion Monastery which in ancient times was known as Yun'Qi'Chan'Si or Monastery of Dwelling Clouds. Here the 500 sculptures of arhats or luo'han in Chinese are amazingly true to life, each in a different posture and wearing his own peculiar expression. Another is Tai'Hua'Si or the Great Flower Monastery, also known as Fo'Yan'Si or Buddha Rock Monastery where one finds such beautiful architectural structures as Green Lotus Hall, Tower of Distant Views, Tower of Boundless Green, etc. From the Tower of Boundless Green one commands an unobstructed view of Lake Dian.

San'Qing'Ge or Taoist Temple of the Three Pure Ones is an architectural complex consisting of twelve halls and pavilions built at nine levels together with a stone arch. In the Yuan Dynasty (1206---1368) it was the site of the summer villa of a Mongolian prince known as Liang. Later it was rebuilt into Lin'Xu'Ge or Temple of Soaring Skies which was then renamed Yu'Huang'Ge or the Jade Emperor's Temple. In the Ming Dynasty (1368---1644) it became Hai'Ya'Si or Temple of Distant Seashores. From the Temple of the Three Pure Ones, which is the name being used today, a stone path looking like a tunnel winds its way up, ending at Da'Tian'Ge or Pavilion That Reaches Heaven. Known as Long'Men'Shi'Dao or the Dragon Gate Stone Path and consisting of nearly 1000 steps, it was hacked out of solid rock entirely by hand up a steep, almost vertical cliff during the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty. It took the stone masons a full 72 years to complete the path and some other structures---now a great tourist attraction in Kunming.

Of the many places of scenic interest in the Western Hills, the Dragon Gate at the summit stands foremost. The Dragon Gate is an antithetical couplet which reads as follows:
Looking up I fell the pride of having the sky within my reach,
Looking down from on high I am surrounded by boundless seas.
The couplet has captured in a few vivid words all the grandeur of the surrounding scenery.

The Grand View Mansion in Grand View Park on the bank of Lake Dian was built at the time of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty. Here magnificent towers and pavilions stand in the midst of luxuriant trees. From here one can have a good view of the lake and the surrounding hills. The mansion used to be the venue of meetings of local men of letters who gathered to compose poems and exchange their views on literary and other matters. Here is found the famous long antithetical couplet by one Sun Ran of the Qing Dynasty. One hundred and eighty characters in length and inscribed in very forceful calligraphy in gold on a royal blue ground, it is believed to be the longest couplet ever composed in China.

Hei'Long'Tan or Black Dragon Pool located at the foot of Black Dragon Hill on the northern outskirts of Kunming is another place of great scenic interest in the city. Here one sees an exuberant growth of towering trees and bamboos in the midst of which gurgles a crystal-clear spring surrounded by luxuriant plant life. The Black Dragon Pool is formed by a spring gushing naturally from underground, it is believed to be the longest couplet ever composed in China.

Hei'Long'Tan or Black Dragon Pool located at the foot of Black Dragon Hill on the northern outskirts of Kunming is another place of great scenic interest in the city. Here one sees an exuberant growth of towering trees and bamboos in the midst of which gurgles a crystal-clear spring surrounded by luxuriant plant life. The Black Dragon Pool is formed by a spring gushing naturally from underground. The clear water is somehow darkish in colour. Hence the name Black Dragon Pool. Two Taoist temples are found here, known respectively as the lower temple and the upper temple, located on what reputedly is the site of a vanished Han Dynasty memorial temple. The lower one, named the Black Dragon Temple and situated west of the pool, was built in 1394 in the Ming Dynasty. By the side of the pool there is a tomb whose history dates back to the Ming Dynasty. According to history, a resident of Kunming named Xue Erwang who lived towards the end of Ming lived in self-exile here with his family and, refusing to submit themselves to the new rulers, they drowned themselves together in the pool.

Walking up the stone steps of a tree-shaded path, one soon comes in view of the magnificent upper temple whose name is Long'Quan'Guan or Dragon Spring Taoist Temple. This is an imposing multiple architectural structure with a succession of three big temple halls. On the temple grounds are many curious and exotic plants of which the most notable are the three referred to as "the three old trees of the Black Water Temple"---a plum of the Tang Dynasty, a cypress of Song and a camellia of Ming. The plum is said to have been planted personally by Monk Dao An Tang. The cypress, rising to a height of 25 metres, looks tall and stately with luxuriant foliage and age seems only to have brought it strength and venerability. From these two and the third, a camellia of Ming of a variety known as "early pink", the poet Guo Moruo once drew inspiration for the following poem:
The camellia is laden with early pink blossoms,
Chivalrous it looks under a hundred red clouds.
This causes the sleepy-eyed Tang plum to wake up.
And adds beauty to the towering cypress of Song.
Towering high they paint pictures in the sky,
Bending low the ground pink and red they dye.
O the three wonderful trees in the great ancient temple,
Forever you will live and sing of the new happy life.
Today the Black Dragon Pool has been made part of a beautiful park bearing the same name. People say of the Black Dragon Pool that there are four invaluable treasures here whose history dates back to ancient times: a memorial temple of the Han Dynasty, a plum of Tang, a cypress of Song and camillia of Ming.

What is known as Lake Erhai is another beautiful lake in the Province of Yunnan, situated north of the City of Dali. It has got the name Er'Hai in Chinese because it is shaped like a human ear which in Chinese is er and because the surging waves here make it look like a sea or hai in Chinese. Lake Erhai is an extensive stretch of water covering some 320 sq km, 40 km long and 8km wide, beginning from Eryuan in the north to Xiaguan in the south, sitting at an elevation of nearly 2000 metres above sea level. Into Lake Erhai flow the waters of several rivers, Xi'er River in the north and in the west the several streams meandering at the foot of the Diancang Mountain. The lake has an outlet near the City of Xiaguan where its waters flow into Yangbi River and further south into Lancang River.

Lake Erhai is lucid green, wrinkling with luminous ripples and dominated by the snowy peaks of the Diancang Mountain. That is why when speaking of the beautiful scenery of the region people refer to the wind of Xiaguan, the flowers of Shangguan, the snow of the Diancang Mountain and the moon over Lake Erhai. Of the four beautiful elements of natural scenery, namely, wind, flowers, snow and moon the last two are believed to lend a mysterious enchantment to the landscape here. That is why when people praise the scenery of Lake Erhai, they use the phrase Yin'Cang'Yu'Er or Silvery Diancang Mountain and Jade Green Erhai.

Lake Erhai is famed for what is known as the three isles, the four tongues of land and the nine coves. The three isles refer to Jinsuo, Chiwen and Yuji respectively. The four tongues of land are Qingshabi, Daguanzhou, Yuanyang and Malian. The nine coves are named respectively Lotus, Stork, Coil, Phoenix, Dream, Horn, Slope, Top Rock and Big Field. Rowing on the lake on a moonlit night, one will see the reflection of the moon appearing fitfully on the ripply waters, creating a mystifying effect on the eye.

There are many places of historical interest at Lake Erhai. On the Isle of Jinsuo there are the remains of the summer villa of the king of Nanzhao, an independent state in this region while the rest of China was ruled by the emperors of the Tang Dynasty. On the west bank of Lake Erhai are the remains of the capital of Nanzhao known as Taihe City, the three pagodas of Chongsheng Temple and the remains of the ancient town of Yangqiemie. Today, people can go holidaying in a park at the southern end of Lake Erhai.

At the foot of Yunnong Peak, a foothill of the Diancang Mountain in Dali county is the well-known Butterfly Spring. Story has it that there was once a girl named Wengu whom a local lord wanted to take to himself as concubine, by force if necessary. In protest, she and her lover jumped into a deep pool and drowned themselves. It is said that they have metamorphosed into a pair of giant butterflies. Hence the name the Butterfly Spring. By the side of the spring is an ancient tree that bends very low over the water. When the tree bursts into flower each spring, the blossoms look like bright-coloured butterflies while real butterflies are seen fluttering round the tree in large numbers. Meanwhile those butterflies that have lighted on the branches will have formed colourful ribbons hanging sometimes down from the very top of the tree to the water of the spring. In the groves nearby there are also bright-coloured butterflies fluttering in swarms in endless sport. This rare sight is known as "a dancing party of butterflies." Near the spring are such architectural structures as the Butterfly Tower, the Pavilion for Enjoying Cool Air, the Flower Terrace, etc. There is also a stone archway on which are inscribed the three Chinese characters of Hu'Die'Quan or Butterfly Spring, in the calligraphy of Guo Moruo the twentieth-century poet and author.

Other places of historical and cultural interest in Yunnan Province include: in Kunming, Green Lake, Grand View Mansion, Golden Temple, Bamboo Temple and the two big monasteries of Flower Pavilion and Great Flower in the Western Hills; in Dali, the Cang Mountains, the Golden Roof Temple, the Three Pagoda Temple, the Snake Bone Tower, etc.; in Lunan, the Stone Forest; in the County of Jianchuan, the Grottoes of Stone Bell Mountain; in Menghai County, the Eight-Sided Pavilion; in the County of Chengjiang, Fuxiang Lake; in the County of Yongping, the iron chain suspension bridge at Jihong; in Yuanmou County, the site of the cultural remains of what is known as "the Yuanmou man" and fossils thereto related.