Ancient Elm Garden

Kailu Ancient Elm Garden Scenic Area is located in Dayushu Town, 20 kilometers west of Kailu County, Tongliao City, Inner Mongolia, and is located in the eastern part of Inner Mongolia. Kailu Ancient Elm Garden was built in 1985 and expanded in 2002. There is a thousand-year-old elm tree in the garden, which was born in the Liao Dynasty. The tree is 25 meters high, with a trunk chest circumference of 9 meters, which can be surrounded by 5 people. The four branches point to the southeast, northwest, southwest and northeast. The shape is winding and tortuous, resembling a dragon or a giant python, with vicissitudes and strength, and outstanding. There is a cave under the tree, which is deep and unfathomable, named Snake Fairy Cave, and is worshipped as a god by people. The thousand-year-old elm was listed as a cultural relic protection unit at the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region level in 1997.

The ancient elm tree has remained elegant for thousands of years, and many magical legends have been derived from it. According to historical records, Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty visited this place during his eastern tour. He once took shelter under the tree and sealed the "holy water well" on impulse, and the remains still exist today. The "Tianzeng Temple" was built next to the tree in accordance with Kangxi's wish that "if heaven adds this temple, it will be a good thing". After hundreds of years of prosperity, it was destroyed by an unknown fire in 1947. The Tianzeng Temple was rebuilt in 2004.

The Ancient Elm Garden has now been developed into three main structures: the Ancient Elm Scenic Area, the Garden Center Scenic Area and the Temple Scenic Area. The Ancient Elm Scenic Area includes the Ancient Elm Tree, the Holy Water Well, the Snake Fairy Cave, the Pagoda, the Juxian Hall, the God of Wealth Hall, the Stele Pavilion, the Kangxi Statue and other landscapes; the Garden Center Scenic Area includes the Purple Air from the East Grand Stage, the Cultural Corridor, the Artificial Lake, the Lotus Pond, the Fortune Island, the Pavilion Waterside Pavilion, the Rockery Waterfall and other landscapes. Kailu Ancient Elm Garden was opened to tourists in 2005 and receives more than 200,000 tourists per year. Every year, during large-scale cultural activities such as the traditional temple fair on April 18th of the lunar calendar, the Guanyin temple fair on June 19th and the Ancient Elm Tourism and Cultural Festival, an average of 30,000 to 50,000 tourists are received per day. In 2008, it was rated as a national AAA-level tourist attraction, and has been rated as a tourism unit with outstanding performance in Tongliao City for many consecutive years. In 2013, it was named "the first batch of cultural industry demonstration bases" by the Tongliao Municipal Government.