大观，即伟大的奇观，是大观园最适合的名字，大观园位于昆明市大观路的终点，在滇池河畔，与位于滇池另一端的西山遥遥相望。
Daguan, which means ’the grand view’, is the most befitting name for the park and the pavilion which are on the terminus of Daguan Road in the southwest of Kunming city, Daguan Park and Daguan Pavilion.
Daguan Park locates on the shore of Dianchi Lake and faces the Western Hills which are on the other side of Dianchi Lake. In 1682, a monk named Qianyin built a small temple here to give Buddhist lessons; eight years later, in 1690, the satrap of Yunnan Province Wang Jiwen was attracted by the beautiful natural views here and began to construct a whole park including many halls, pavilions, bonsais, rockeries, trees and porches. Daguan Park became an attraction from then on and the most famous spot among them is the Daguan Pavilion.
Like many other Chinese ancient buildings, Daguan Pavilion also had been in disarray, destroyed and restored several times because of the dynastic changes and the civil wars. The present-day square, three-storied pavilion was established in 1883. At the entrance there is the longest antithetical couplet which was written by a famous Qing Dynasty scholar named Sun Ranweng (also called Sun Ran); this couplet of 180 characters is one of the most valued cultural treasures in Yunnan Province. The first part of the couplet describes the beautiful and magnificent natural views before your sight, tell people to enjoy and treasure. The second part reviews the 2000 years’ history of Yunnan,awakens to that no matter how successful or frustrated you are, all will be in nothingness in the end.
Other sceneries like Santan Yingyue, Louwailou and Lu Garden, also beautiful places, deserve a visit. Santan Yingyue is a pool with three stone towers which divides the pool into three parts. Therefore when there is a moon in the sky there are three moons in the water; Louwailou is a stone pavilion built like a ship. Standing on it you can see Santan Yingyue on the right and the ocean of grass on the left, Dianchi Lake in front and levee behind; in the south of Daguan Park is the Lu Garden which was a private villa in 1937, with water lilies, roses, weeping willows and oleanders everywhere. Lu Garden looks like a little peaceful fairyland which is hiding in the corner of Daguan Park.
True to its name, Daguan Park and the attractions in it provide spectacular and grand views in different styles. From the sparkling Dianchi Lake to the superb Western Hills, the natural beauties create a perfect place to spend your holiday.
