Red Hill is a symbol of Urumqi, owing to its uniqueness. The body of the mountain, made up of aborigine rocks, has a reddish brown color. That’s why it is called the name Red Hill.

There is a legend that says in ancient times a red dragon fled from the Tianchi Lake or the Heavenly Lake. The Empress of the Heaven caught him and cut him into two parts from the waist with a sword. Later on, two hills formed at the position where the two parts of red dragon lie. One of them is the Red Hill. The other is Yamalike Hill. The sword turned into the Urumqi River. While nowadays, the Urumqi River doesn’t exit anymore as it has been placed by the wide rode.

In 1785 and 1786, floods hit Urumqi causing much destruction. Rumors arose that the Red Hill and Yamalike Hill were growing closer and closer together. Once they met, the Urumqi River between the two hills would be blocked and the city would become flooded as the water rose. People think it’s because of the dragon. Hence Pagodas were built on both hills to keep the dragon down. These two pagodas were made of gray bricks, with six sides, nine floors, and octagonal roofs.