Jinbi Square Park in Kunming
Chinese Name: 昆明金碧公园
English Name: Jinbi Square Park in Kunming
Opening hours: Year-round, Monday to Sunday, 00:00 – 24:00
Overview
Jinbi Park, established in the early years of the Republic of China, is the oldest park in old Kunming. Located at what is now the First People’s Hospital of Yunnan Province on Jinbi Road, the park was named after the nearby Jinma Biji Square. At the time, it was the only park in the area and was simply referred to as “the park.”
Development History
- In the 1920s, Jinbi Park hosted numerous exhibitions for Yunnan Province and Kunming. In June 1914, the park held a pre-exhibition for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, showcasing distinctive local products from Kunming and surrounding counties. This marked the first participation of Yunnan products in an international competition.
- In October 1921, the park hosted the Second Product Evaluation Conference of Yunnan, featuring halls dedicated to agriculture, forestry, crafts, minerals, education, and antiques, with displays from various sectors in Yunnan and some crafts from France and Vietnam. In December 1922, the Yunnan Promotion Association organized a large-scale product exhibition with sixteen categories, including human physiology, quality livestock, and rare animals, along with a conference on science and social knowledge.
- In March 1923, the municipal government held the Kunming City Flower and Plant Horticultural Exhibition, an unprecedented event in scale. The park’s entrance, designed in a Western architectural style and adorned with climbing plants, was called the “Green Gate.” Inside, there were elaborate displays, including a rhododendron mountain, peony flower boat, nine-tier flower tower, and orchid archway, with a pool replicating the scenery of Cangshan and Erhai Lake.
- The bonsai gallery exhibited landscape bonsai artworks, while the horticultural library offered over 300 books and periodicals in multiple languages. The horticultural tool display showcased various foreign and provincial gardening tools, and an art gallery exhibited calligraphy and paintings. This event was a grand horticultural exposition for Kunming eighty years ago.
Main Attractions
- By the mid-1920s, after more than a decade of construction, Jinbi Park began to take shape. The main entrance, facing north onto Jinbi Road, features a fountain with a rockery behind it and a large screen wall further back. Beyond the screen wall lies a vast plum orchard, with a large flowerbed at its center and small pavilions named “Pifeng,” “Yanyue,” “Huayu,” and “Wangyun” on each side.
- To the east of the plum garden is a pear garden, and to the south, along the park’s eastern wall, are the Red Flower Garden, Jujube Garden, Chrysanthemum Garden, Apple Garden, and Botanical Garden. Directly south of the plum garden is the main building of the park, the Commodity Exhibition Hall, flanked by the Mineral Museum and Agricultural and Forestry Museum.
- In the center of the square south of the exhibition hall stands a bronze statue of Mr. Yang Zhenhong, a revolutionary martyr from Kunming. South of the statue is a pool with two small islands connected by bridges, each with its own pavilion. The park is lush with trees, vibrant with flowers, and features well-organized ponds, pavilions, rockeries, flowerbeds, and statues, making it an ideal place for leisure activities for Kunming residents at the time.
Transportation
Subway
- Take Line 3 or Line 5 to Wuyi Road Station, or take Line 1 [Northwest Extension] to Jinbi Square or Desheng Bridge Station.
Bus
- Take Bus 10 or 82 to the West Entrance of Nanping Street, or take several bus routes such as 4, 206, 213, 3, etc., to nearby bus stops like Houxin Street, Xunjin Street, and Jinma Square.
