Dragon’s Gate is definitely one of the coolest things I’ve seen in Kunming. To be completely honest with you, I was blindly following my friend who had quickly looked it up and we were a bit lost, and made some mistakes along the way, but I think we will keep that memory as a fun experience. Scroll to the end to read about our mistakes haha.
That said, I highly recommend this experience. From the top of Western Hill Park (also called Xishan 西山 in Chinese and “Sleeping Buddha Hills” because of the shape of the mountain), you will have a gorgeous view of the Dianchi Lake and of the city. The temples are built directly into the mountain side, which I had rarely seen before. It was spectacular.
That said, I highly recommend this experience. From the top of Western Hill Park (also called Xishan 西山 in Chinese and “Sleeping Buddha Hills” because of the shape of the mountain), you will have a gorgeous view of the Dianchi Lake and of the city. The temples are built directly into the mountain side, which I had rarely seen before. It was spectacular.
When to go: April – October – avoid cloudy days as they might obstruct your view of the pines that grow on the cliffs
Recommended visit: a half day
Altitude: About 2000 meters high
Recommended visit: a half day
Altitude: About 2000 meters high
What to See
Dragon Gate Longmen (龙门), grottoes and its cliff . The path took 72 years to carve into the rock during the Qing dynasty (1644-1912). -Warning : some paths are pretty narrow and dark. It costs about 40 CNY to enter.
San Qing Pavilion: don’t miss this one. It’s very impressive
Huating Temple: one of the biggest Buddhist temples in Yunnan
Taihua Temple: the oldest in Western hill. It was built in the Great Yuan dynasty (1271 to 1368)
San Qing Pavilion: don’t miss this one. It’s very impressive
Huating Temple: one of the biggest Buddhist temples in Yunnan
Taihua Temple: the oldest in Western hill. It was built in the Great Yuan dynasty (1271 to 1368)
What to Eat
Unlike many tourist attractions in China, this park doesn’t have a lot of food options. We decided on spicy potatoes, that’s always a safe bet. If you are a picky eater, bring a snack.
How to get there
THIS IS THE PART WHERE YOU LEARN FROM MY MISTAKES: When we got to the entrance of the park, we were told we would have to take the cable car to cross the river, and if we walked it would be just 20 minutes to reach the bottom of the mountain. So we thought “Why would we get on this, if we are okay walking 20 minutes? We’ll take the cable car after the river!”. Hummm no, that’s not an option.
Of course at that time we didn’t know this. We totally ignored the cable car lady’s looks that asked us repeatedly “You want to WALK?”. I typed the address on my Chinese GPS app (Amap), I was determined to hike and I think we weren’t fully awake then, but that changed quickly. We did walk for 20 minutes, crossed the bridge, skeptically looked at tourists who we thought were being scammed, then we got….nowhere.
There was no way to get on the cable car from the bottom of the mountain, and there was nobody around. Finally, we saw police officers directing the traffic because a road had been blocked. We asked them how to go up the mountain, and they told us to go straight, then walk under a bridge on the mountain side and climb up. To be honest, it was a bit sketchy, but our ego at this point forbade us to retreat 20 minutes back to the cable car lady. We started going up and up, and halfway through we saw the sign saying we were somewhere on a 1000 steps hike.
Yup, turns out, we had to hike up in the forest, while it was raining, and we were freaked out because at that point we already had seen a snake. We debated whether we should keep going or just go back, but since we had no other plan that day we decided to take it slow and reach the top, which I am glad we eventually did.
Moral of the story? Don’t listen to your ego, just take the cable car. Unless you are in for some adventure and are ready to climb up a steep mountain for about 2 hours, unsure of whether you even are on the right track. Honestly, after the facts, I read some articles about hiking this mountain, and some people make it look easy. So I truly am torn about this. If I had to do it again, I don’t think I would have bothered. There are many places where you can hike in this area, so I just wouldn’t choose this particular one.
How to get around
Repeat after me: DO NOT TRUST any map. I’ve seen many maps, signs, all of them showing contradictory information. In this holy place, they are not to be trusted. Just follow random arrows and trust your instinct, you’ll save yourself the trouble haha. Some maps, like this one, were very artistic though.
How to leave
I know, it’s not common for people to write about how to leave a place. But let me tell you, leaving this scenic spot for us was just as hard as reaching the place!! It took us nearly the same amount of time. I’m basically ashamed of our performance on this day trip. At some point, you’ll see shuttles. Staff and tourists alike don’t seem to be able to give you a clear instruction on how to get down. So when you see the shuttles, take them. They will take you to a bus, hop on it. And when you’re at the bottom of the mountain, take a taxi, because again you won’t be back at the entrance of the park. Getting a taxi from there took us a while too, so make sure you have the Didi app and a snack.
Where to stay
I chose to stay at the Grand Park Hotel in Kunming. Check it out!
Final word
Thanks for reading my struggles ! I hope your trip to the Dragon’s gate will be more peaceful haha.
In this confusing situation, would you have gone back to take the cable car or gone further into the forest? let me know in the comments down below!
In this confusing situation, would you have gone back to take the cable car or gone further into the forest? let me know in the comments down below!
