Jinxian Spring is located between Shangzhi Hall and Huanghua Pavilion on the northeast side of Baotu Spring. The spring pool is rectangular, originally 4 zhang long and 2 zhang wide. Due to a wandering and fluttering water line ripple on the water surface, when looking at it in the sunlight, it is just like a glittering golden thread floating on the water surface, hence the name. Zeng Gong’s poem ‘Jinxian Spring’ says: ‘The jade well always floats with fresh qi.
The golden thread is uncertain in Nanquan. Clouds compete to form strands by relying on beautiful algae. The moon shines on the spiritual ripples and cleverly forms a crescent.’ During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the golden thread could still be clearly seen. Later, due to the reconstruction of the spring pool, the base was damaged, the water surface also shrank accordingly, and the water flow weakened. Since then, the golden thread has disappeared. In 1956, when Baotu Spring Park was expanded, a golden thread also appeared in a small carved stone pool about 20 meters east of the original Jinxian Spring. So people call this spring ‘Jinxian Spring’, and the stone inscription of ‘Jinxian Spring’ inscribed by Ding Yanchen from Wuxing, Jiangsu Province in the ninth year of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty was moved and embedded on the east wall of this spring. The original Jinxian Spring is renamed ‘Old Jinxian Spring’, and the four characters ‘Old Jinxian Spring’ newly inscribed by Li Zhongyu, a calligrapher from Jinan, are embedded on the pool wall.Opening hours: Open all day throughout the year.
