With a history of over 400 years, Kunming Golden Temple (Jin Dian) Fair(金殿庙会) is held for people to pray for blessing for the coming year on the 9th of the fifth Chinese lunar month, and serves as a traditional festival for the Kunming people. During the festival, people from different corners of the world flock into the Golden Temple for a spring outing and stroll around the temple fair.

Highlights of Golden Palace Festival

Kunming Golden Palace Festival is held in the Golden Palace Scenic Area, and the highlights include climbing up the mountain in order to stroll around the temple fair and appreciating the blooming camellias.

Strolling around Temple Fair

During the festival, the Golden Palace Scenic Area is crowded with people, both old and young, and a festive atmosphere is in the air with red lanterns and Chinese knots hanging here and there.

The Golden Palace Scenic Area is composed of the Golden Palace, the Bronze Palace, the Bell Tower and the Superb Harmony Palace. Various types of local snacks are prepared for visitors, including Shaoerkuai (baked cake made from boiled rice), Guanguan Rice Noodles (rice noodles cooked in small jars), Rose Miliangxia (rice milk in a shrimp shape with rose sugar) and Stewed Bean Curds.

In the Golden Palace Scenic Area, visitors can find almost all types of Kunming handicrafts, including sugar figurines, dough figurines and vertically-written couplets which are usually placed along either side of a doorway.

A number of art performances are also available during the festival, highlighting dragon dancing, lion dancing and stilt-walking.

Appreciating Camellias

In addition to tasting snacks and purchasing specialties, visitors can appreciate the blooming camellias during the festival. Over 5,000 camellia trees of over 1,000 species are planted in the Golden Palace Scenic Area, some of which are imported from the U.S., Japan, Great Britain and New Zealand, highlighting the lion head species, purple robe species and onyx species, and all of which are in full bloom during the festival. You can also purchase bonsai trees and other flowers that you like during the festival.

The Golden Palace

As the central architecture of the Golden Palace Scenic Area, the Golden Palace is 6.7 meters (22 feet) tall, 6.2 meters (20 feet) long and 6.2 meters (20 feet) wide. Its beams, arches, windows, tiles and statues of gods are all made from bronze. In the center of the palace stands the statue of the Jade Emperor, with the statues of boy and girl attendants of fairies by his side.

The Golden Palace was built by former Yunnan governor, Chen Yongbin, in the Wanli Period of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) and rebuilt by Wu Sangui in the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911), and boasts of being the largest and best-preserved of its kind in China now.

Kunming Golden Palace Festival is not only a wonderful opportunity for visitors to taste Kunming's local specialties, but it's also a chance to learn more about the ethnic minority culture of China, and China Highlights can design a tour to discover more about Kunming during the festival. You're also advised to visit the well-known attractions of Kunming after the festival, including the Stone Forest, Yuantong Temple, Yunnan Minority Village, Black Dragon Pool, Kunming Horticulture Expo Garden and Mengzi Ancient Town.

Travel Essentials:

Address: Mingfeng Mountain, northeast suburb of Kunming

Opening times: 9:00am to 5:30pm daily

Transportation: bus 10 and 71 can take you there from the city center