Green Lake Kunming - Jade in the City

Originally called Cai Hai Zi, Kunming Green Lake, or Cui Hu, is the “Eye of Kunming City” located at the downtown. Its elegant sightseeing of trees, flowers, lakes, and animals, etc. make this lake very shining jasper, and that is why it gets the honorable name of the “Jade of Kunming City”. To provide a better place for visitors to enjoy the beautiful sightseeing, the Green Lake Kunming has been built as a garden with many charming natural sceneries, and it is being a great place to go for visitors in Kunming. And now, Green Lake Park is one of the must-go place for global visitors to Kunming, either for a simple walk, watch local people’s life, or play with the vivacious black-necked gulls in warm winter!

Best Kunming Tours to Visit Green Lake:

3 Days Kunming Tour to Stone Forest & Jiuxiang Cave

4 Days Kunming & Dongchuan Red Land Scenic Tour

Green Lake Kunming has a series of unique features for you to have fun to the most, such as its charming colorful tulips, wide spread of lotus flowers in summer, groups of black-headed gulls in winter, leisure culture of local people, etc.

Watch Local People Spending Leisure Time

Wandering on the roads and pavilions, you can see many local people in costumes of minority nationalities in Green Lake Kunming. They dance, play musical instruments, sing, taste tea, enjoy the distinct natural sightseeing of every corner here, and chat with friends and family. You will find your Kunming tour very meaningful and unforgettable while seeing such harmonious scene.

Appreciate the lovely Tulips (Spring)

Green Lake Kunming in spring is also a good place to appreciate tulips. When the other cities are still in snow and ice, Kunming is already in the warm spring with multiple lovely tulips in different colors in full bloom. The especially noble black, pure white, splendid yellow, bright red, etc. all grow very flourishing and like dancers in the wind. And while admiring this feast for your eyes, you will be surprised while seeing a little squirrel jumping and running in this garden.

Enjoy the Diverse Lotus Flowers (Summer)

Every summer, all lotus flowers are blooming in full, decorating the Green Lake Kunming into a very attractive lady in a colorful dress. Besides the white and pink flowers, half white and half red ones, there you can enjoy the very rare yellow lotuses of rich sorts, which seems like a quiet girl, tender and lovely. Also, you can see many water lilies in yellow in another pool, blooming like a sleeping beauty.

Hearing the chirping of the birds on the branches, and enjoy the leisure time watching the countless colorful fishes swimming among the lotus leaves, you will feel the summer is no longer a summer.

Play with the Black-headed Gulls (Winter)

A very worth recommended activity in Green Lake Kunming is the black-headed gulls from the northern China and Siberia every winter. Since Kunming is always very warm like in spring, more than ten thousand snow white black-headed gulls come here to spend the winter every year. It is very enjoyable to see these birds playing together on the water, flying in the blue sky, and competing for their food after the visitors throw bread to them. To watch the adorable black-headed gulls, you can visit Green Lake Kunming during November to the next March and April, for they usually fly back after then.

Reccommended Kunming Tours

3 Days Kunming Spring City Tour

3 Days Kunming Tour to Stone Forest & Jiuxiang Cave

Yuantong Temple

Only several hundred meters away from Green Lake Kunming, Yuantong Temple is the biggest and one of the most ancient Buddhist temples in Kunming with a long history of over 1200 years. Visiting this sacred temple, you can not only appreciate the special buildings combined with Chinese garden styles, but also know about the three systems of Buddhism in China, which is unique in domestic. (Opening hour: 8:00-18:00; Fee: CNY 6 / person)

Kunming Green Lake is situated in the downtown of Kunming and about only 15 minutes’ walking distance to the city center around Jinma & Biji Pedestrian Street. And it usually needs about 40 minutes (27 km driving) from Kunming Changshui International Airport and 50 minutes from Kunming South Railway Station (34 km driving) by car.

Travel with China Discovery (Top Recommended):

If you want to get rid of hustle of public transportation and troublesome navigation, you can travel with us China Discovery. Our local tour guide and driver will escort you to Green Lake Kunming from your hotel or any other places in Kunming with speed, convenience and safety by the comfortable licensed private vehicle, and take care of all the details. You just need to focus on sightseeing. Please contact us directly if you need any help!

Independent Travel

As Kunming Green Lake is at the downtown, independent travelers can get there very easily by local metro system, public bus, taxi, public bicycle, etc. for some short time.

By Subway:

Green Lake is just a little far from the metro station. Take the Metro Line 2 to Chuanxingulou Stop (穿心鼓楼站), and walk about 20 minutes (1.5 km) toward the west, you can get to the east gate of the park.

By Taxi:

• From Kunming Railway Station - 5 km; 25 min
• From Kunming North Railway Station - 5 km; 20 min
• From Yuantong Temple - 10 mins’ walking
• From Stone Forest - 88km; 1.5 hour
• From Dongchuan Red Land - 140km; 3 hours

▶ Learn more about How to Get to & around Kunming

To enjoy the highlights of Kunming Green Lake and more highlights in Kunming City, you can plan 1-2 days like most visitors to discover the top must-sees. You can spare the first day arrival there in no hurry. And spend the rest 2 days exploring the sightseeing of Kunming Green Lake, Yuantong Temple, birds and flower markets, and Yunnan Nationalities Museum in the downtown and the not-missing Stone Forest at the eastern suburb. Besides, most travelers prefer to arrange Kunming as the first part of their Yunnan travel, so you can also extend to more beautiful destinations in the province, such as Yuanyang, Luoping,Dali, Lijiang, Shangri-La, Jiangshui, etc. in 6-13 days based on your exploration depth! Moreover, if you have any idea of more interested destinations in China to travel with Kunming together, please feel free to contact us and our experienced travel expert will help you to plan you coming tour with sincerity!

▶ Learn more about How to Plan a Trip to Kunming

Recommended Kunming Yunnan Tour Packages:

8 Days Dongchuan, Yuanyang & Jianshui Photography Tour (Kunming / Dongchuan / Shilin / Yuanyang / Jianshui / Kunming)

8 Days Classic Yunnan Tour (Kunming / Dali / Lijiang / Shangri-La)

5 Days Kunming, Jianshui & Yuanyang Rice Terraces Tour

11 Days Amazing Yunnan Tour (Kunming / Yuanyang / Jianshui / Kunming / Dali / Lijiang / Shangri-La)