Jincheng Ancient Town can be discovered on the southeastern shore of Dianchi Lake, Kunming City. It is surrounded by mountains on three sides, with the remaining side boasting a hill and small plain.
The area of today’s Jincheng Town was once the capital of ancient Dian Kingdom, the centre and birthplace of ancient Dian culture.
Most of the buildings in Jincheng Ancient Town were built during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. They’re well preserved, mostly “stilt style architecture” and “Yikeyin dwelling structure (a seal-shaped structure).”
The layout of "three principal rooms and four eastern and western side rooms" and "two principal rooms and two eastern and western side rooms" quadrangle courtyard is of unique style and implies unique significance of history, allowing visitors to imagine the prosperous and grand situation of ancient castle.
Eight streets including Upper Western Street, Lower Western Street and Guanjing Street in the old downtown of Ancient Jincheng Town form a grid-shaped main pattern, and an auxiliary pattern separated by dozens of alleys.
The natural scenery around Jincheng Ancient Town is wonderful. The popular five-word ancient poetry, "A few households are settled within the distance of one kilometre, dozens of towers and pavilion and clusters of flowers are distributed," describes such exquisite surroundings.
Jincheng Town also has another feature, that is, numerous ancient wells, the number of which is beyond your imagination. It may be concluded that "there are water wells in all households, and each household is sourced with a pure spring." According to incomplete statistics, the total number of wells found in Jincheng Town and surrounding villages is greater than 1,100, being the largest community of ancient wells preserved in Yunnan. The number of ancient wells preserved in Jincheng Town is rare in the world.
When special festivals are held, drama performances are shown on a stage, allowing you to experience different charms of this ancient city.