Go to Xishan and challenge the Dragon Gate

Number of days: 2 days
Time: November
Average cost: 300 yuan
With whom: and friends
Updated: 2025.02.28

Xishan Scenic Area

Today's destination is Kunming's Xishan Scenic Area.

Unfortunately, it was raining.

Xishan is located west of Kunming, adjacent to Dianchi Lake, about 15 kilometers from the city center. Densely forested, with a fresh and elegant environment and a view overlooking the vast Dianchi Lake, it's a great place for hiking and sightseeing. The Longmen Grottoes on the mountain are even more ancient and precious.

The most convenient public transportation to Xishan is to take Metro Line 3 (towards Xishan Park) and get off at Xishan Park Station (Exit A). Exit Exit A, (turn left) and walk 550 meters to the Xishan Scenic Area Visitor Center.

The Xishan Scenic Area is distributed in a north-south strip, with the north side being lower and the south side being higher.

The visitor center is at the northernmost part of the scenic area.

The walk from the visitor center to the Longmen entrance on the top of the mountain is 5.1 kilometers, and it's quite tiring going up all the way.

We chose to buy a sightseeing bus from the visitor center to the Longmen entrance scenic area + Longmen cable car (one-way up) + battery car (one-way down the mountain), and the total transportation fee was 60 yuan/person.

[Transportation within Xishan Scenic Area: Round-trip bus ticket (Visitor Center - Nie Er Tomb) ¥25.0 + Longmen Cableway one-way ticket ¥25 + downhill electric car one-way ticket ¥10 = ¥60/person; Scenic Area entrance fee ¥30 (free for seniors over 70 years old)]

Take the sightseeing bus to the upward terminal.

After getting off the bus station, walk along the stone road eastward to the Longmen Visitor Center (North Gate of Longmen Scenic Area).

The uphill road leads to Nie Er's tomb on the right, where there is a white marble statue of Nie Er and an exhibition hall.

The area north of the Longmen Visitor Center from the stone road is the dining area.

The Longmen Cableway station is not far from the north gate. The Kunming Longmen Cableway stretches 1,100 meters from Taihua Mountain Villa to Xiaoshilin. This open-air cableway offers expansive views. Running through the mountains and forests, on rainy days, clouds dance as the cable car ascends through a fairyland.

We are among the last group of tourists to experience this open cable car (the cable car is like a double chair). This cable car, which was built in 1993, has reached its service life. In September 2024, it started upgrading and renovation. The renovated cable car uses an 8-person gondola.

After leaving the cable car station, there are two roads: to the right (south) you can reach the "Lingxu Pavilion" (240 meters high). Lingxu Pavilion is higher than Datian Pavilion and has a wider view.

The road was slippery on a rainy day, so we didn't go to Lingxu Pavilion.

From the upper station of the cable car, turn left and walk about 213 meters to Huifengtai. 30 meters south of Huifengtai is the "rooftop".

Longmen Rooftop

Start your journey to Longmen from the rooftop.

I think it is most appropriate to visit Longmen on a rainy day, as Longmen appears and disappears in the clouds and mist.

Longmen

Longmen refers to a section of stone carvings between Sanqing Pavilion on the West Hill and Datian Pavilion on the top of the hill. This is a narrow cliff with a length of only 66.5 meters. The entire project was excavated in the early years of the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty (1522 AD) and ended in the third year of the Xianfeng period of the Qing Dynasty (1853 AD). It consists of the Phoenix Pavilion, Ciyu Cave, Datian Pavilion, Chuanyun Cave, Yunhua Cave and the plank tunnels connecting the grottoes. These reliefs, stone carvings and caves were all carved bit by bit by craftsmen in the Ming and Qing Dynasties using primitive tools. The carvings are exquisite and the project is huge, which is spectacular. We followed the stone steps down the mountain, passing Chuanyun Cave, Yunhua Cave, Phoenix Pavilion, and Shengfumu Temple, and arrived at Xiaoniu Spring.

Longmen

We followed the stone steps down the mountain, passing Chuanyun Cave, Yunhua Cave, Fenghuang Pavilion, and Shengfumu Temple, and arrived at Xiaoniu Spring.

Yunhua Cave

Xiao Niu Spring is a cave with a spring pool and a stone bull statue inside. The stone tablet at the entrance of the cave is engraved with the story of Xiao Niu Spring.

This is a three-way intersection. Go up to the Jade Emperor Pavilion and go down the long steps to the East Gate.

It took more than an hour to visit the Longmen landscape from the rooftop.

There is a boarding point for the downhill battery car (take the sightseeing bus in the scenic area) at the East Gate. Take the battery car here to the lower station of the Longmen Cableway.

The Xishan Longmen tour route is well planned. Although the stone steps down the mountain are steep, there are guardrails along the way, and the distance is not far.

Walk west for a few dozen meters from the battery car station and return to the Longmen Visitor Center.

To the east of the Longmen Cableway Lower Station Visitor Center is the Dianchi Cableway (Kunming Tourist Cableway) ticket office (near Xuguang Pavilion), which is the upper station of the Kunming Tourist Cableway.

Take the Dianchi Cableway (Kunming Tourist Cableway) (20 minutes one-way) east to the Dianchi Dam (Haigeng Park), take a box cable car across Dianchi Lake, and it's very pleasant to sit in the cable car and overlook the Dianchi Lake and the lake and mountains in the distance.

[Tips: Xishan Cableway (now called Kunming Tourist Cableway) and Longmen Cableway

Kunming has two cableways that often confuse tourists from outside. Just remember one thing: from the visitor center at the Xishan Park subway entrance to the Longmen entrance on the mountain, if you want to visit the attractions of Xishan Longmen, you can choose to take the Longmen Cableway to the mountain; if you want to cross Dianchi Lake from Longmen to the east side of Dianchi Lake, you can take the Dianchi Cableway (Kunming Tourist Cableway)]

If you are interested in temples, you can start your journey down the mountain from the Longmen Scenic Area Visitor Center and visit Taihua Temple and Huating Temple along the way.

Taihua Temple was first built in the tenth year of Dade in the Yuan Dynasty (1306 AD) and rebuilt in the ninth year of Guangxu (1883 AD). Its main buildings include the Heavenly King Hall, the Main Hall, and the Great Compassion Pavilion.

Huating Temple was built in the Yuan Dynasty. It has the Heavenly King Hall, Guanyin Hall, and Sutra Library. It is the largest Zen Buddhist monastery in Yunnan Province.

Yunnan Ethnic Village

To the east of Xishan Scenic Area is the Yunnan Ethnic Village, which is separated from Xishan by Dianchi Lake.

It was still early, so we decided to visit the Yunnan Ethnic Village.

From the Nie Er Tomb bus stop near the Longmen Scenic Area Visitor Center, take the sightseeing bus down the mountain to the Xishan Park Visitor Center; then transfer to bus No. 94 to the Yunnan Ethnic Village Scenic Area.

Yunnan Ethnic Village is a 4A-level scenic area. Yunnan Ethnic Village features 1:1 replicas of 25 ethnic minority villages, including the Dai, Bai, and Yi, each with unique folk customs and craft performances.

Due to time constraints, we only planned to visit the Yi Village and the Dai Village. Yunnan Ethnic Village Dai Village The Three Pagodas of the Bai Nationality

Entering the ethnic village from the south and walking towards the Yi village, we passed the Three Pagodas of the Bai Nationality and were moved by an impromptu performance by a Bai actor. We simply asked a passing Bai actor, "Can you play a song?" The Bai actor actually took off his cotton coat and sang while playing the horse-head fiddle for the three of us.

Bai ethnic village actors performed for three tourists.

The Bai ethnic actor actually took off his cotton coat and played the horse-head fiddle and sang for the three of us.

Ethnic Cuisine

When you come to Yunnan, you must experience the ethnic cuisine. One night, we randomly walked into a restaurant. While we were dining, two waiters dressed in Dai costumes were dancing and singing as they served food to the neighboring table...

We also saw waiters in ethnic costumes in front of the restaurant on the roadside.

Waiters in ethnic costumes in front of the restaurant

Yunnan Province is rich in beautiful scenery and diverse in delicious food. Spring, summer, autumn, and winter, you can find a place that suits your taste in Yunnan.