Erhai Lake is the largest highland lake next to Dianchi and one of the seven biggest fresh water lakes in China. It means, 'sea shaped like an ear', in Chinese. The Erhai Lake in the east of Dali covers 250 square kilometers at an elevation of 1,980 meters with a water storage capacity of 300,000 cubic meters. Its vast pool, shining under the sun like a sheet of vivid green, and the snow mantles of the Cangshan Mountain reflected quivering in it, combine to form a breath-taking sight known poetically as “Silver Cangshan and Jade-like Erhai”.

The pavilions, chambers and corridors atop the Tuanshan Mountain provide an all-encompassing view of the Cangshan Mountain, shimmering on the horizon like an immense screen, the Erhai Lake, its vast expanse of liquid silver strewn with white sails and alive with darting gulls and swallows, and the ancient city of Dali and its three pagodas, which are faintly visible in the distance. It is, indeed, an ideal place to marvel at the famous scene titled “Silver Cangshan Mountain and Jade-like Erhai Lake”.

Erhai Lake Park was built for giving tourists alike the convenience of watching the lake. In spring, the place is transformed into a wonderland of flowers like camellias, azaleas and primrose, and abundant exotic trees.