Running west off Zhengyi Jie just past the mosque , Jingxing Jie leads into one of the more bizarre corners of the city , with Kunming 's huge Bird and Flower Market convening daily in the streets connecting it with the northerly , parallel Guanghua Jie . The market offers many plants such as orchids that have been collected and farmed across the province . In the small grounds of Wen Miao , a now vanished Confucian temple off the western end of Changchun Lu , there is an avenue of pines , an ancient pond and pavilion , and beds of bamboo , azaleas and potted palms . Jinbi Lu runs roughly parallel to and south of Dongfeng Lu , reached from Beijing Lu . Two large Chinese pagodas rise in the vicinity , each a solid thirteen stories of whitewashed brick crowned with four iron cockerels . The West Pagoda was built between 824 and 859 , during the Tang dynasty ; its original counterpart , the East Pagoda , was built at the same time , but was destroyed by an earthquake in 1833 and rebuilt in the same Tang style in 1882 . South down Dongsi Jie , past another mosque , the entrance to the West Pagoda is along a narrow lane on the right . In the tiny surrounding courtyard , sociable idlers while away sunny afternoons playing cards and sipping tea in the peaceful , ramshackle surroundings . The East Pagoda is a more cosmetic , slightly tilted duplicate standing in an ornamental garden a few minutes ' walk east on Shulin Jie . The temples associated with both pagodas are closed to the public
an earthquake
1833 Kunming earthquake
Kunming