Travel Tips
Attractions:
Opening Hour: 07:00-19:00Admission Fee: CNY30
How to get there:
Located at the foot of Mingfeng Mountain, about 7 km from Kunming City, Yunnan Province.
- by bus No. 60, 10 or 71, get off at the stop of Jindian Lishi Fengjingqu (金殿历史风景区, Golden Temple historic and scenic site).
- by taxi which will take about 30 minutes.
Best time for visit: all year round Best Travel Season:
Map:
Golden Temple
- Temple fair of the temple is fixed on the ninth day of the first month in Chinese lunar calendar (usually falls on January or Febuary), during which various local products are sold and public performance is put on there.
- The temple is home to several thousand pots of camellias, which is the city flower of Kunming as well as one of the "Eight Famous Flowers of Yunnan". If you are a camellia lover, do not miss the blossom lasting from the end of winter to the beginning of spring.
- Kunming Golden Temple, also known as "太和宫"(Taihegong) Golden Temple or "铜瓦寺"(Tongwasi Temple), is one of the important cultural relic protection units in China. Located on Mingfeng Mountain, Golden Temple is 7 km away from Kunming City. As a famous temple in Yunnan Province, Golden Temple acquired the name for its shinning golden appearance. Although the temple has been exposed to wind and rain for hundreds of year, it is still maintained in good condition than the Golden Temple in Summer Palace of Beijing. Also, it is the biggest and well-protected existing copper temple in China, providing important information for researchers to study the ancient metallurgy and architecture in Yunnan Province.
Chinese folk tales has it that Chen Yongbin, provincial governor of Yunnan Province of Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), was told that Mingfeng Mountain in Kunming is a place with good Fengshui (风水, a Chinese system of geomancy). In expectation of getting good luck, Chen built the Golden Temple in the mountain, modeling the Taihegong Golden Temple on Wudang Mountain in Hubei Province, in 1602 to worship Zhenwu the Great (真武大帝, a Chinese god of Taoism). At late Ming, the Mu (沐, sharing a same pronunciation with 木(wood) in Chinese) family ruling Yunnan considered that the temple would hoodoo their family (according to the Chinese theory of Five Elements (metal, wood, water, fire, earth), metal corrodes wood). As result, the temple was moved to the Jizu Mountain in Dali in 1637 (but was destroyed between 1960s and 1970s). In 1671 during Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Wu Shangui, general of Pingxi in charge of supervising Southwest China in Qing Dynasty, decided to rebuild the Golden Temple at the original site in Mingfeng Mountain of Kunming – that is the one we see there today. Besides the temple and statues, he has also made a Seven Star Sword, which is collected in the temple as the guardian of the temple.
Outside the Golden Temple
There are stone steps paving from the foot of Mingfeng Mountain to the Golden Temple. After crossing three heaven gates which symbolizes three constellations, visitors will see the solemn gate of Golden Temple. In the courtyard many kinds of flowers can be found, among which the camellia and the crape myrtle can be traced back to Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).
In front of the Golden Temple stands a copper flag, on the edge of the top of which the sun and the moon are carved. Between the sun and the moon there are four Chinese characters "天下太平", literally "All is at peace" in English. The Big Deeper is carved on the flag as well. So comes its name: "日月七星铜旗"(copper flag of the Sun, the Moon and Seven Stars). There are also "风调雨顺、国泰民安" on the flag, which means "good weather for the crops, peace and prosperity around the whole country". This flag is the symbol of Zhenwu the Great, who is considered in traditional Chinese mythology to be the god blessing the country and the people. In the first month of China lunar calendar, people will gather together in Golden Temple to celebrate the birthday of this god of Taoism.
To the Southeast of Golden Temple there is a three-floor Mingzhong Tower, which is about 30 meters high. A copper bell, 2.1 meters high, 6.7 meters in girth, 14 tons in weight, is hanging on the third floor of the tower. With a history of about 560 years, the bell was originally hanging in Xuanhua Tower in Kunming and was not moved to Golden Temple until the Xuanhua Tower was torn down. In 1983, the Mingzhong Tower was built for hanging the bell and the tower becomes the highest architecture on Mingfeng Mountain from which visitors can get good view of scenery around.
Golden Temple is a traditional Taoist structure in the style of "歇山式" (a typical ancient Chinese architecture with 4 sides of roofs as its trademark). It's about 6.7 meters in height, 6.2 meters in width and 6.2 meters in length. The whole temple, including posts, beams, doors, windows, tiles, altar table, horizontal inscribed board, the statue of Zhenwu the Great and so on, is made of copper. On the door of Golden Temple, there is a horizontal inscribed board writes "鹦鹉春深" which means the weather is always as spring all year round. Inside the temple, the sitting statue of Zhenwu the Great is accompanied with a "金童"and a "玉女"(immortal boys and girls who standing behind an important god in Chinese myth). Apart from 20 kg the "七星宝剑" (Seven Star Sword), another cultural article - a 12 kg saber with wooden shaft which is said to be used by Wu Sangui – is also showed in Golden Temple.
金殿風景區位于昆明市東郊的鳴鳳山麓，占地1773畝距市區8公里。金殿名勝區創建于明萬曆三十年（1602）明崇禎十年（1637）銅殿遷賓川雞足山，清康熙十年（1671）平西王吳三桂重建現存這幢重簷歇山式真武銅殿，銅殿重250噸，是中國最大的銅建築，它比北京頤和園萬壽山的金殿保存完整；比湖北武當山金殿規模大，是我國現存最大的純銅鑄殿。 這座名聲顯赫的金殿屬於太和宮的一部分，總重量達250噸，為重簷飛閣仿木結構方形建築，殿高6.7米，寬、深各6.2米，包括樑柱斗拱、瓦楞頂簷、神像羅幔、桌案瓶器、匾楹旌旗等都是用銅鑄成。
金殿自陳用賓于萬曆壬寅（1602）年鼎建， 迄今已380多年； 吳三桂重建已210多年了。初建于明萬曆年間。陳用賓仿照湖北均縣境內的武當山天柱峰的太和宮及金殿，略加變化建成。明代後期統治雲南的沐氏作惡多端，屢被朝廷懲治，家運日衰。但是，他不從自身上找根源，而從迷信中尋求解脫。信為：鸚鵡山在城東，山上立有銅殿，“銅乃西方之屬，能克木”，故由巡按張鳳翮出面，將銅殿拆運至滇西的雞足山，現存鳴鳳山金殿，是清初吳三佳重建的。殿梁上還留有“大清康熙十年，歲次辛亥，大呂月，十有門日之吉，平西親王吳三桂敬築”等字樣。
從山腳舍車步行，過迎仙橋，進“鳴鳳勝景”坊，途徑“第一天門”、“二天門”和“三天門”。攀上天門，即可見古樸莊重的“太和宮”大門。聯雲：“畫棟連雲，只占青山三畝地；朱樓映日，別開綠野一重天”。入寺門，再過欞星門，可見巍然屹立的磚城，擊長約數十丈，略似皇家紫禁城。沿階進“城”，迎面高高的臺階上，便是太和宮的中心建築，著名的金殿。 名勝區建有三層三十六翼角二十九米高的鐘樓，三樓穹頂下，懸掛明永樂二十一年（１４３２）所鑄的大銅鐘，鐘高３．５米，口徑周長６．７米，重達１４噸，為雲南省最大的古鐘。新建的“中國金殿博覽苑”，將湖北武當山、山西五臺山、山東泰山、和北京萬壽山的銅建築薈萃一園。苑中堆大理石，小橋疊水、踏步欄杆、棧道石坊、植物花卉等景觀相映，形成了小巧玲瓏的仿銅文化園林。金殿建有５００畝的園林植物園，已建成茶花園、杜鵑園、木蘭園、薔薇園、溫室區等十個園區，引種園林植物２０００餘種。金殿名勝區是融人文景觀、自然景觀為一體的特色旅遊景點。在昆明市東北角七公里的鳴鳳山上，有完全用青銅鑄造的銅殿，在驕陽下殿宇熠熠生輝，耀眼奪目，故人們稱為金殿，是中國重點保護文物。
春城清代康熙九年（西元一六七零年），吳三桂在鎮壓農民起義後，率師進踞昆明，重建金殿。現在金殿大樑上尚可看到“大清康熙十年，歲次辛亥，大呂月（即十月）六日之吉,平西親王吳三桂敬築”銅鑄字樣。裡面的佛像、匾聯、樑柱、層面、門窗、盤龍、裝飾等均用銅鑄成。金殿的階梯、地板、欄杆均是別致的大理石鑲砌。整個殿宇宏偉莊嚴，美觀大方。殿外築有城牆、城門、城垛。城上有樓。在殿后側，有粗逾合抱的山茶一株和紫薇兩株，相傳為明代所種，每年春節前後，數千朵茶花怒放，花紅似火。
金殿門票每張15元人民幣，可在穿金路乘10路公共汽車，也可在這裡乘專線中巴車，票價是2元人民幣。
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