Butterfly Spring

Butterfly Spring is located at the foot of the Yunlong Peak of the Cangshan Mountain, 25 kilometers north of Dali. It is actually a pool four meters deep and 20 square meters wide with ancient camphor trees beside it. In the fourth lunar month every year, when the trees put forth fragrant flowers, thousands of butterflies' flutter among the branches and over the spring water forms a dazzling Kingdom of Butterflies. Swarms of butterflies in twenty or so breeds descend on the tree, linking those head against tail into numerous colored ribbon-like strings which keep dangling over the pool. The spectacle has become a real wonder known far and wide. The inevitable legend tells the tale of how it was named long ago. A beautiful Bai maiden named Wengu was spotted by a local despot who wanted to take her as his concubine. The girl refused and she and her lover drowned themselves together in the pool and emerged from the pool as a pair of butterflies. It is also claimed that the lovers return as butterflies every spring.