As one of the famous Taoist holy places in Yunnan Province, the Golden Palace (Temple) Scenic Area is a state 4A-level scenic attraction of Kunming. It is located on the Phoenix Mountain (Mingfeng Mountain), which is seven kilometers away from the downtown area, in the northeastern suburb of Kunming and adjacent to Kunming World Horticultural Exposition Garden.

The Golden Palace Scenic Area consists of six parts, including the Golden Palace (jin dian), the Sanfeng Hall, the Laojun Hall, the Golden Palace Exhibition Garden, the Golden Palace Museum, and the Bell Tower and Flowers Area.

The Golden Palace, also locally called “Copper-Tiled Temple” (Tong Wa Si), and is in fact made of bronze. It’s said that the building gleamed gold in the sun when the construction was just completed, just as its name implied. The Golden Palace was originally built in the 30th year (1602) of the Wanli Reign of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). The provincial governor of Yunan, named Chen Yongbin at that time, sponsored the construction. The palace was modeled after another “golden palace” in Tianzhu Peak of Wudang Mountain in Hubei Province. The Golden Palace functions as the shrine for Zhenwu God (the governor of the North Dipper in Daoism). Enclosed by a rampart with a grand palace gate, and gate tower, the Golden Palace complex is often referred to as “Taihe Palace” (Tai He Gong). In the 10th year (1637) of Chongzhen Reign of the Ming Dynasty, the Golden Palace was unfortunately demolished and relocated to Jizu Mountain in Binchuan County of Dali Prefecture. The extant Golden Palace was reconstructed by Pingxi King-Mr. Wu Sangui (1612-1678) in the 10th year (1671) of Kangxi Reign of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

The whole copper construction, measuring 7.8 meters in both length and width, and 6.7 meters in height includes beams, windows, doors, roof, table, incense-burner, curtain, plaques and couplets. The Golden Palace of Kunming is the heaviest copper temple in China. In 1982, it was listed as one of the “key cultural relics under state protection”.