The engineering of Lijiang Wenming Archway relies on ten massive pillars supporting three grand openings. Traditional mortise-and-tenon joints lock the timber frame together, allowing the wood to breathe and shift. The front corners of the roof sweep upward into dramatic flying eaves, while the back corners remain un-flared, resting quietly against the sky. Flanking the entrance are two brick screen walls decorated with carved symbols of fortune and longevity.

The four stone lions guarding this Qing Dynasty gatehouse are older than the gate itself. Carved from single blocks of stone in 1621 by order of the Naxi chieftain Mu Zeng, these guardians originally stood outside the Mu Mansion's Zhongyi Archway. They survived centuries of political shifts before finding a new home here.

In the mid-to-late 20th century, when road construction threatened to demolish the local Confucius Temple, local preservationists and workers carefully dismantled the temple's 1740 wooden gatehouse. They transported the heavy timbers to Heilongtan Park, reassembling the structure to serve as the park's western entrance.

The archway carries the physical marks of its travels. In 1998, the Naxi calligrapher Li Qunjie brushed the characters for "Heilongtan" onto the western face, replacing an earlier plaque by the artist Wu Zuoren. On the eastern side, the original 1891 gold-on-vermilion inscription from the Guangxu era still catches the morning light, reading "Wenming Archway."

The scent of aged pine still clings to the beams, and the rough, weathered stone of the Ming Dynasty lions invites visitors to touch four centuries of continuous history.