The ancient city of Jianshui in Yunnan has a long history and has well-preserved large-scale ancient buildings. It was called Bu Tou or Badian in ancient times. Huili City was built during the imperial edict of Nan Dynasty in the Tang Dynasty and was affiliated with the Tonghai Dudu Mansion.

In the Dali Kingdom of the Song Dynasty, it belonged to the Abai tribe of Xiushan County. Shuizhou was established in the Yuan Dynasty. It was called Lin'an Prefecture in the Ming Dynasty. During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, Shuizhou was renamed Jianshui County.