Travel Tips
Attractions:
Early in the morning, hundreds of people, men and women, young and old,
come to the banks of the lake to practice boxing, jogging, singing, and
sword-dancing. It is full of life everywhere. In the evening, people
come to have a stroll, to enjoy the scenery, or to chant antiphonal
singing, amidst willows on the lake banks, feeling carefree and
contented.
Opening Hour: Admission Fee: CNY
How to get there:
Bus: 101、133
Best Travel Season:
In winter and spring, Kunming residents flock to the Cuihu Park to feed red-beaked gulls - there are tens of thousands of them, which descend upon the lake. This lovable scene, in which man, birds, and nature mingle in such harmony, has kept occurring over the last ten years. The love of the Kunming people for wildlife has added to the charms of the City of Spring.
Map:
http://www.meet99.com/map-cuihu.html
Brief Introduction :
Cuihu Park, covering an area of 210,000 square meters, is located in the northern part of Kunming's city proper. It was made a public park in the early 1910s.
The Cuihu Lake Park, situated at the western foot of Wuhua Hill, is a scenically beautiful park inside the city. By the end of the Yuan Dynasty, it was still a swampy field for growing vegetables, lotuses and rice, hence the name "Vegetable Lake". The water-level of Dianchi Lake was then so high that it was connected with the Cuihu Lake. That is why we have the couplet: "Dianchi Lake spreads five hundred li; the Vegetable Lake merges with it."
As there were nine mouths of springs beyond the Bamboo Island in the northeast, the lake was also called "The Nine-Dragon Pond". It now covers fifteen hectares of land. Since 1985, the red-pecked seagulls from Siberia have been spending the winter months on Cuihu Lake.
The entire Cuihu Park is a green world, with willow trees swaying gently on the dikes, and the surface of the lake covered all over with lotus plants. All the year round the park is the venue of one sort of exhibition or another, and with its snug seclusion it is frequented by local residents who come here for a few hours of leisure.
There used to be a scenically beautiful island at the centre of the lake. In the year 1382, Mu Ying, the Garrison Commander, started building the capital of Yunnan Province in Kunming, and the Cuihu Lake was enclosed within the brick walls of the city. A military structure, called "the Liu (Willows) Barracks", was built, which was later changed into a villa for the Mu family. In 1692, Wang Jiwen, the provincial governor, built the Biyiting (literally Green Ripples Pavilion), commonly called Haixinting (a Pavilion in the Centre of the Lake).
The lake offers a scene of freshness, serenity, and beauty, hence the graceful name "The Cuihu Lake". The main attractions include lotuses, fish, willow trees and pavilions. Ling Shiyi, a Cantonese in the Qing Dynasty, wrote in a couplet: Fishes teem in the ten-mu lotus pond; over half the city poplars and willows are caressing pavilions." It is a superb description of the scenery.
Reference:
翠湖公園位於昆明市區的螺峰山下，五華山西麓，雲南大學正門對面，因湖東北有9個出泉水眼，古時稱九龍池，又有菜海子、洗馬河之稱。這裡最初曾是滇池中的一個湖灣，後來因水位下降而成為一汪清湖。翠湖水光瀲灩，綠樹成蔭，是昆明城內的一顆綠寶石，有"城中之玉"的美稱。
自明朝起的歷任雲南行政官員都曾在這裡修亭建樓。明朝鎮守雲南的沐英曾在翠湖建別墅。清初吳三桂填湖修築王府。康熙年間雲南巡撫王繼文在湖心島建"碧漪亭"，在北岸建"來爽亭"。1867年同治皇帝御賜"妙蓮湧現"匾額。正如淩逸在蓮花正式定名為翠湖後以"翠堤春曉"聞名四方。
翠湖公園四季碧水悠悠，春有萬千垂柳滴翠，夏有碧葉紅荷吐豔，秋有百花爭豔，冬有棕櫚青青。登舟暢遊，仿佛進入如詩如畫之境。夜晚，翠湖燈火五彩迷離，樹影婆婆。園內縱貫南北的是阮堤，1834年雲貴總督阮元撥款所築。直通東西的是唐堤，1919年由唐繼堯撥款所築。兩道長堤分湖為四。堤畔植柳，湖內種荷，荷柳相映，清翠秀麗。兩道長堤將翠湖分成五片景區--湖心島景區以湖心亭和觀魚樓等清代建築為主；東南面是水月軒和金魚島；東北面是竹林島和九龍池；南邊是葫蘆島和九曲橋；西邊是海心亭。
1985年冬季以來翠湖公園出現了一大奇觀--成千上萬的海鷗從西伯裡亞來到這裡過冬。白天海鷗彙集於此，夜間飛往滇池、撫仙湖等處。每年11月份它們飛來昆明過冬，第二年3-4月飛往我國東北及西伯利亞等地。每當這時，逛翠湖賞海鷗便成為遊人的一大樂趣。
到翠湖遊覽，可乘1路公共汽車在雲南大學站下車，或乘101路在翠湖下車，也可乘5路、23路、4路等公共汽車在小西門站下車步行前往。
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