At the base of Elephant Hill, cold spring water bubbles up from limestone fissures to fill the Black Dragon Pool, creating the headwaters that feed the canals of Lijiang Old Town. In 1737, Naxi builders led by Guan Xuexuan, Zhao Liangfu, and Li Zhiri raised the Dragon God Temple on this western-facing shore. The Qianlong Emperor recognized their work that same year, naming the site the Dragon God of Jade Spring. For generations, farming families gathered here during the third lunar month to pray for rain, filling the courtyards with the scent of sweet osmanthus and burning incense.

The temple layout follows the traditional Naxi style of four courtyards with five lightwells. Its main hall, the Jade Water Dragon Palace, features a single-eaved gable-and-hip timber roof supported by a sturdy post-and-lintel frame. Visitors ascend traditional steps to a raised moon platform, where the smell of aged pine lingers. Across the courtyard, the ancient wood-framed theatrical stage faces east, its nine-ridge roof mirroring the peaks of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.

In 1892, a local scholar named Yang Zhaorui redesigned the landscape, aligning the temple, the Moon-Embracing Pavilion, and the five-hole bridge to reflect traditional cosmological principles. In October 2003, a devastating fire swept through the complex, reducing twenty rooms and three copper deity statues to ash. The wooden gate-house survived the flames, preserving the plaque reading "Sky Light and Cloud Shadow," carved in the style of the Ming master Dong Qichang.

Today, the temple serves as a quiet sanctuary. Inside the courtyard, the Snow Mountain Chess Academy hosts players who click smooth slate and shell stones onto wooden weiqi boards amidst potted bonsai. From the open-air stage, the ancient, reedy melodies of Baisha Xile and Dongjing music drift across the water, played by local musicians keeping centuries-old traditions alive. This structure remains a living link between the mountain waters and the people who live downstream.