Heilongtan Park, a popular tourist destination in Kunming, is a park with a history of 1,200 years. Ancient trees have thrived in the park from time immemorial. Data showed that around 160 ancient trees still stand in the park up to now, including Plum flower from Tang Dynasty, cypress from Song Dynasty and camellia from Ming Dynasty, making the park seems like a museum of ancient trees.

   As one of the earliest places for sightseeing in Kunming, Heilongtan Park was recorded in Han Dynasty. As time passed by, a Taoist temple was established here. In Ming Dynasty, the Taoist temple gradually gained its popularity and separated into two parts. In the half of the hill was called Longquan Temple (龙泉寺), while down to the hill was called Heilong Palace (黑龙殿). 

   It is said that Black Dragon Pool Park is the only place where groundwater exchanges in Kunming. Such suitable environment has become a hotbed for plant growing. 

   Dendrochronology is very helpful to study ancient geographical hydrology and ancient climate. Aged trees is called ‘green living fossil’ in Heilongtan Park. These trees have been favorable for studying climate in different time in arid and semi-arid areas. 

Plum flower from Tang Dynasty:

   The plum flower had lived more than 1300 years. It is renowned as the earliest Plum flower in Yunnan. Flowers bloom in early January and the flower season usually continues for half of a month. 

Cypress from Song Dynasty: 

   With a height of 28 meters and a circumference of 2 meters, the cypress has lived for more than 900 years. Growing straightly and proudly, it seems that the tree has kept prosperity for one thousand years.

Camellia from Ming Dynasty:

   The camellia is the youngest tree in Heilongtan Park, which has lived for 500 years. It usually flowers in the end of December and will not fall until early January of the following year, boasting a flowering period that is as long as almost a month. Normally 70 or 80 flowers bloom in a year.  By : InKunming