Daguan Lou / Grand View Pavilion



Located 7 kilometers west of Kunming, at the lake shore of Dianchi Lake, the Grand View Pavilion was built
in 1682, by a Buddhist monk named Qianyin.

The Park Scenic Area includes the three-storied Grand View Pavilion, which provides a spectacular view
across sparkling Dianchi Lake to the distant Western Hills, and some winding corridors, bonsais,
rockeries, trees and porches, willowed causeways, arch bridges, and archways centering around.

The fame of the Grand View Pavilion is not only for its charming scenery, but for also the world longest
ancient antithetical couplet. Whoever visited the Grand View Pavilion and saw this couplet is all appreciated
the content of the script.

Decorated with flying eaves and splendid paintings, the present-day pavilion is a square, three-storied pavilion established in 1883. The roofs of
the pavilion were painted golden, and the pavilion appears elegant in between the verdant trees. The pavilion faces north and south, with the south
gate facing Dianchi Lake; on both sides of the south gate were the couplet written by Sun Ranweng (1684-1763, a poor scholar in Qing Dynasty);
this couplet of 180 Chinese characters is believed to be the longest antithetical couplet in the world and one of the most valued cultural treasures
in Yunnan.

Inside the pavilion on the third floor, looking into the distance, you will have a panoramic view of Dianchi Lake and the Western Hills.

Nowadays the Grand View Garden is the most graceful garden in Kunming. The main construction of the
garden is the Grand View Pavilion. After renovated for successive dynasties, it becomes remarkably
magnificent. Some say the Grand View Pavilion becomes more beautiful because of this couplet and is
the couplet has multitudinous people to appreciate because it is in the Grand View Pavilion.