It is 370 square kilometers in area, 44 meters in depth, and 1,885 meters in altitude. It is 39 km long from north to south, and the average depth is 4.4 m. Its nickname is "Sparkling Pearl Imbedded in a Highland," and it was the model for the Kunming Lake in the Summer Palace in Beijing. It is a working lake, and traditional junks still sail the lake, the men laying the lines to hook the fish is their livelihood. At the same time, the lake is a pleasant destination for those wishing to get away from the bustle of the city itself.

Baiyukou scenic resort is located on the west bank of Dianchi Lake, to the southeast of Guanyinshan, 38 kilometers away from Kunming City. It is a small peninsula protruding into the lake, and is in harmonious coordination with the distant cape of Guanyinshan that also stretches into the lake.

Baiyukou Park is on the west bank of Dianchi Lake. Here a small hill looks like a white fish opening its mouth to Dianchi Lake. Near the Irregular shore line, beautiful gardens are hidden among green trees. In spring, the cherry trees are in blossom, adding luster to this serene place. Overlooking Dianchi Lake, you can see white sails of boats on the glistening lake and gulls skimming over the waves.

The bay of the lake in that locality is renowned for teeming with a kind of small white fish called 'baiyu' in Chinese, hence the name of the place - Baiyukou (the White Fish Mouth).

In 1922, the first year of the Republic of China, a high-ranking official Yu Enxi chose the place for his villa. It is a 3-story stone building, with hills behind and the lake in front. The villa was luxuriously furnished, and a hot-spring bathroom was built separately on the right side of the building. On the east and south sides of the stone building, there are beautiful gardens. These gardens are separated from the lake by a pond and a long embankment on which weeping willows stand neatly. 
 
In 1953, the Provincial Worker's Sanatorium was built at Baiyukou. Later, a pier was built to the south of the villa for tourist boats. Stretching into the lake, the sanatorium is also a good place to view the scenery. Farther on to the south of the lake villa, there are gardens with pavilions and arbors typical of the styles of the minority nationalities in Yunnan Province. The sanatorium is located to the west of the pavilions and arbors, and is composed of groups of gardens, buildings typical of south China and tall buildings peeping out from rows of magnolia, pine and cypress trees. We visited here in 1985.