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Western Hills
Western Hills is a range of mountains stretching from the southwestern suburbs of Kunming along the western shore of Dianchi Lake. The heavily forested range includes Huating, Taihua, Luohan and Bixiao Hills. When viewed from Kunming the range resembles a giant woman asleep, so they are also known as the "Sleeping Beauty Hills". The hills themselves are worth exploring to discover shrines, temples and enjoy the magnificent views.
For the best views of the area climb one of the hills such as Luohan Hill. On the way, Saqing Pavilion offers a resting place with excellent views. Dragon Gate is at the summit of the 400 meter (1,312 ft) climb. This shrine offers amazing views of Dianchi and the plains of Yunnan and is also remarkable because the statues, grottoes and pathway up to Dragon Gate were carved out by Daoist devotees, by hand, over the course of 70 years from 1781 onward.
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