Stone Gate Pool lies in Nantang Village, Shanwang Town, Bagong Mountain District. The area is lined with massive, rugged boulders forming a gate shaped like coiled ferocious dragons, making it one of Bagong Mountain’s iconic natural landscapes. Ancient records of Fengtai document: “Cloud Ribbon Hill and Mat Hill stand opposite each other to form a stone gate, with a gap opening between their converging ridges. The gate rises sixty-six metres high, facing west with a north-south span. The two cliff faces are thirty metres apart, enclosing a pool ten metres across and one metre deep. Its waters never dry up all year round, overflowing toward Great Boulder Mountain.” Standing before the stone gate, sheer vertical cliffs soar straight toward the sky. Three bold, forceful giant characters “Stone Gate Pool” are carved into the facing precipice. Local folklore claims the calligraphy was left by Zhao Kuangyin, the founding emperor of the Song Dynasty, when his troops were trapped in Nantang. Historians, however, attribute the inscription to Li Daoyuan of the Northern Wei Dynasty, citing records of Xiyun Spring in his Commentary on the Water Classic: “Xiyun Spring holds crystal clear water that cleanses body and soul, sweet and crisp, superior to Pearl Spring and Moon Soaking Spring.” Xiyun Spring serves as the source of Stone Gate Pool, and Li Daoyuan would have passed through this pool during his geological surveys of the spring.

Stepping through the stone gate, visitors enter a narrow “Thread of Sky” gorge, which suddenly opens into a basin embraced by surrounding mountains. Stone steles marking Stone Gate Pool and the Xiyun Spring Pavilion stand exposed amid clusters of peach trees. This basin is said to be the military camp where Zhao Kuangyin’s army was besieged during the Shouzhou campaign, an ancient battlefield where Later Zhou soldiers fought bloody battles against Southern Tang forces. The wars between Later Zhou and Southern Tang left a sorrowful ballad for the Last Lord of Southern Tang, who lamented, “How could I have foreseen warfare? Tears fall as I face my palace ladies.”

Stone Gate Pool forms part of Bagong Mountain’s ancient cultural corridor. Surrounded by ancient tombs and historical ruins, it was a favoured haunt for literati and poets in antiquity. Today, Bagong Mountain District and Shanwang Town prioritise tourism development centred on Stone Gate Pool. A covered corridor, bamboo lodges and Nantang Road have been built along Nantang Lake, a variety of service industries have been established, and a series of preferential policies have been rolled out to boost local tourism. A number of insightful investors have already launched development projects here.