At the southern edge of Erhai Lake in Dali, Yunnan Province, a solitary hill named Tuanshan rises eighty meters above the water. Today, visitors climb a grand staircase of nearly three hundred granite stone steps to reach the summit. At the top stands the Wanghai Tower, a traditional structure of flying eaves and tilted corners.

This hill was once Xilong Mountain, an isolated island surrounded by deep water. In the eighth century, during the Nanzhao Kingdom, the island served as a royal deer pasture. The surrounding lake acted as a natural fence, keeping the animals secure. In the ninth century, the writer Fan Chuo recorded seeing herds of thirty to fifty deer grazing here in the daytime. Over the centuries, the waters receded, exposing a land bridge that welded the island to the mainland.

In December 1976, the local government transformed this historic hill into Erhai Park. Builders erected the Wanghai Tower and its integrated wooden corridor along the crest of the hill. Under the tower's eaves hangs a black-lacquered wooden plaque. The celebrated artist Wu Zuoren brushed the gold characters on this plaque, writing "Yu Er Yin Cang" to celebrate the jade-green waters of Erhai and the silver snows of the Cangshan mountain range.

Standing on the observation platform, you can feel the cool mountain breeze at an elevation of over two thousand meters. The scent of paint and weathered wood from the covered gallery lingers in the air. Below, the modern skyline of Dali meets the ancient lake. To the west, the nineteen peaks of Cangshan rise like a giant screen, while the waters of the West Erhe River flow toward the sea. It remains a place where the physical landscape tells a story of shifting waters, royal hunting grounds, and the enduring connection between stone, water, and human memory.