subject: Fantastic Sight in Yunnan China – Jinma Biji [print this page] Fantastic Sight in Yunnan China Jinma Biji
Being the capital of Yunnan province in China, Kunming is a time-honored city. In the early Palaeolithic Age of 30 thousands years ago, humans had lived in here. With the progress of history and changing of times, Kunming left behind rich cultural relics and human landscapes. Golden Horse and Jade Cock (Jinma Biji) Memorial Archways are one of them. They were built in the reign of Emperor Xuande in the Ming Dynasty with the history of 400 years and are honored as the symbol of Kunming for its long history and highlighted ethnic feature.
The unique feature of Jinma Biji lies in appearing an extraordinary sight at a certain time, when the sunset is impending, the golden afterglow lights from the west side of Biji Archway, then its inverted image casts on the east side of the street, meanwhile, the moon rises up in the east, the silver light irradiates the Jinma Archway, then its inverted image casts on the west side of the street, and the two arch's shadow gradually approach to each other till swapping their place.
It's said, for the reason of rounding angle of the earth, moon and sun, the extraordinary sight just could be met once per 60 years. However, the design for the sight reflects highly intelligent ancient people of Yunnan on the perfect integration in math, astronomy and architecture.
Jinma Biji Archways are located on the intersection of Sanshi Street and Jinbi Road of Kunming city, with 12 meters height and 18 meters width. The east archway is adjacent with Jinma Mountain, so named as Jinma Archway, and the west archway is near to Biji Mountain, so named as Biji Archway. There is Zhongsai Archway in the north of Jinma Biji Archways, and the location of the three archways forms a shape like a Chinese character "Pin", which becomes wonderful scenery in Kunming.
