五龙潭

Wǔ Lóng Tán - Five Dragon Pool

Useful Information

Location:	Five Dragon Pool Public Park, 18 Kuangshi Street, Shizhong District, Jinan City. (36.665160, 117.008589)
Open:	APR to OCT daily 7-19. NOV to MAR daily 7-18. [2022]
Fee:	Adults CNY 5. [2022]
Classification:	Karst Spring
Light:	n/a
Dimension:
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:	P. Fang, Y. Cao, K. Tang, X. Li, S. Wang (1988): Age Dating of the Groundwater in the Spring Area of Jinan City in: Karst Hydrogeology and Karst Environment Protection. Volume 2. Proceedings of the 21st Congress of the International Association of Hydrogeologists, Guilin, China October 10-15, 1988. IAHS Publication No. 176, (1988). p 597-605.
Address:	Five Dragon Pool, 18 Kuangshi Street, Shizhong District, Jinan City, Tel: +86-531-8692-1741.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1985	Five Dragon Pool Public Park established.

Description

五龙潭 (Five Dragon Pool) is located in the 五龙潭公园 (Wǔ Lóng Tán Gōng Yuán, Five Dragon Pool Public Park). Five-Dragon Pool is also called Grey Bay Spring. The park was created in 1985 and the garden landscape surrounding the springs was restored. The park has 5.5 ha with trees, wooden temples, bridges, and canals and lakes which are fed by the spring. It seems the name is a result of the fact that there are actually five springs. The springs are artesian springs from a karst aquifer, and there are actually 72 karst spring in Jinan city. For more information on the geological situation see the explanation for nearby Baotu Spring. The geology is actually the same for all 72 springs.

The park is as interesting as nearby Baotu Spring Park, although the spring is less spectacular. But the benefit is, that the park is less crowded and sometimes dubbed an unknown gem. The park contains 28 more springs, which means 29 of the 72 springs of the city of Jinan are located here. The Five Dragon Pool park covers an area of 200 m by 400 m which is almost 8 ha.

The park was the place of the encampment of General Qin Shu Bao, also known as Qin Qiong, and his troops while preserving the Tang Dynasty Qi Province. According to legend the encampment was destroyed by a flood after torrential rain, which formed the present Five-Dragon Pool. During the Yuan Rule, a temple was established for him, and some locals still pay reverence to him by offering fresh fruits, moon cakes and crabs. The lakes are full of coy and other fishes, in the spring pool they can reach a respectable size, some say they are the size of a small kid. There are also people fishing in the pools, but we could not find out the rules or if you need a permit. Most people are just watching the fish, some are feeding them.

Unfortunately the name Five Dragon Pool seems to be quite popular and so there are numerous springs and lakes with this name in China. If you search for this location be sure to add the name of the city, Jinan, to the search.