A chirally helical coordination polymer [Zn(H2O)(ONCP)Cl]n self-assembled with ligand 2-(2-carboxyphenyl)imidazo(4,5-f)(1,10)phenanthroline displays second harmonic generation efficiency, which is approximately two times as much as that of potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP), and tunable photoluminescence images form yellow-green to white based on the variation of excitation light.