Maoyan River, Maoyan Lake, Jiutian Cave
Dear friends, after feasting your eyes on Zhangjiajie's sandstone peak forest wonders, today let's try something new: playing in the water—rafting on the Maoyan River!
The Maoyan River is a section of the upper Lishui River within Yongding District, stretching from Kuzhu Village upstream to Huayan Power Station downstream, covering a total length of 50 kilometers. Because of the construction of the Yutan Power Station in the 1990s, the Maoyan River was divided into two parts: above the dam is a 20-kilometer calm-lake cruise, and below the dam is a 25-kilometer rafting tour.
Since ancient times, the Maoyan River has been the territory of the Maogang Tusi. Six hundred years ago, Qin Hou, the leader of the Tujia people, fought against the government troops here, resisting Zhu Yuanzhang's ethnic oppression. Every mountain, river, cave, and village here, along with every place name and anecdote, is imbued with the moving stories and beautiful legends of King Qin Hou. All of this has draped the Maoyan River in a layer of mystery.
The Maoyan River is one of Zhangjiajie's five premium tourist routes. Today along our rafting journey, the main scenic spots we'll enjoy include Wentang Ancient Ferry, Suoying Pool, Congdou Rapids, Yanban Rapids, Lianhuan Rapids, Shuidongzi Waterfall, Yuanyang Islet, Jima Village, Heishe, Xingzi Rapids, Mao'er Rapids, Yanhe Gorge, Huoshao Karst, Xinlan Rapids, Raolan Rapids, Yinyang Rapids, Huangtu City, Zuzhou River, Xiangbizi Rapids, Magu Rapids, Dalanzi Rapids, Xiaolanzi Rapids, Chengjia Rock, and more.
(Wentang Ancient Ferry) The ferry from which we are about to start rafting is called Wentang Ancient Ferry. It's impossible to verify when this ferry was built. This is the dividing point between the Maogang Tusi and the Yongshun Tusi, and it was the third and final pass of the Maogang Tusi.
In the early 1980s, the famous director Ling Zifeng adapted the novel Border Town by the great Western Hunan writer Shen Congwen into a film right here. It's said that the actress who played Cuicui was so reluctant to leave the stilted house where she had stayed after filming ended.
(Hot Spring) There is a hot spring on each side of the ferry. The one on the opposite bank sits right against the riverbed, level with the water surface. The water temperature is 37–39°C, with a flow of two to three hundred tons per hour. Testing has shown that the spring water is high-quality mineral water; drinking and bathing in it year-round has notable therapeutic effects on many diseases.
(Suoying Pool) This section of the gorge has emerald-green water so deep you can't see the bottom. The water surface is like a mirror, reflecting the green mountains on both banks, so the locals call it Suoying Pool.
(Congdou Rapids) Attention please, ahead is Congdou Rapids, the first rapids of our rafting trip. Please grip the ropes tightly with your hands, check your life jackets, and get ready to "dance with the waves"!
(Yuanyang Islet) Ahead are two small islands standing in the middle of the river—these are Yuanyang Islets. The two islands are not far apart. The upper one is about 200 meters long and 50 meters high; the lower one is smaller. Both are elongated ovals, covered with jagged rocks and dense silvergrass and shrubs, looking at first glance like two large mandarin ducks floating on the water.
(Jima Village) This is a small mountain village nestled against the hills and by the water. Legend has it that when Qin Hou was pursued by Ming government troops and retreated to Maogang, he left a warhorse here in the village's care. The villagers released the horse onto Yuanyang Islet. Qin Hou was besieged at Qinian Fort and couldn't come for a time, and the horse neighed all night long. Then an immortal scattered sand, connecting Yuanyang Islet to the right bank, and five horses left the island. Later, after Qin Hou was defeated and killed, the five horses refused to leave, longing for their master, and eventually transformed into five mountain peaks. The place names Jima Village and Wumatou (Five Horse Head), not far downstream, both originate from this story.
Now let's go ashore and have some fun on the beach. If you're interested in collecting stones, this large beach is an inexhaustible warehouse of rocks!
(Heishe Three Hundred Poles) This place is called Heishe. The Tujia people have two explanations: one is "Heishe Three Hundred High," meaning that to climb up to Heishe Fort from the opposite cliff, you must scale three hundred steps of high stone blocks; the other is "Heishe Three Hundred Poles," referring to the old days when boatmen and raftsmen entering Yanhe Gorge from here had to dodge and weave left and right all the way—the water was swift and the waves treacherous, the riverbed narrow, with rocks piled chaotically on both banks and hidden reefs everywhere in the river. The slightest negligence meant the boat would be destroyed and people killed. Boatmen arriving here had to summon all their energy, be fully alert, and not slacken for a moment. When a boat entered the gorge, it had to pole three hundred times in succession to burst out of Yanhe Gorge and escape the gate of hell. Everyone please hold tight to the cables and get ready to pass through Yanhe Gorge.
(Yanhe Gorge) Friends, we've arrived at Yanhe Gorge. Now let me read you a poem written by the Qing Dynasty Tujia poet Xiang Zeyou, titled "Passing Through Maoyan Gorge," shall I? "Along the river, the obstacles and dangers are most numerous, yet none more towering than Maoyan's terrain; Green peaks on both banks stand face to face, sheer cliffs and layered rocks for thousands of tiers; Mountain paths wind ever more remote, the river narrows and narrows again. How perilous! Maoyan is truly perilously steep!"
Everyone knows there was a man named Liu Zongyuan among the Eight Great Prose Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties, right? Yes, the great essayist who wrote "The Snake Catcher." He once heard a general friend who had campaigned against the Maogang Tusi describe the scenery of the Lishui River, and he couldn't help but yearn for it. In a poem presented to a friend, he wrote: "From the Han (referring to the Han River in Hubei) southward, of all the beautiful prefectures, seven or eight out of ten cannot match Li." Unfortunately, he never got to see the Lishui River scenery with his own eyes before he died. Yanhe Gorge is over 10 kilometers long, with cliffs on both banks reaching four to five thousand meters high. Here there are many rapids and deep pools, with big waves and swift currents. Through the ages, no matter how skilled a boatman or raftsman, steering a boat or floating timber here meant facing a severe test. As the saying goes, "Peaks connect with the sky's gateway, boats travel through earthly caverns"—life and death hang on a single moment. After heavy rain, countless waterfalls cascade down both sides of Yanhe Gorge—some plunge from cliff tops all the way down, others tumble in three tiers along the slopes. There are over 300 such seasonal waterfalls along the Maoyan River. The entire gorge resounds with the roar of water, shrouded in mist, as if entering a watery realm. Look at the stone walls along the bank—those are man-carved towpaths. Occasionally you can spot a few black-canopied boats struggling upstream, with the naked, pitch-black boatmen either hauling on towlines with all their might on shore or clinging to the gunwales struggling in the water, letting out piercing, heart-rending cries as they painstakingly haul the boats upstream. Such breathtaking scenes are rarely seen today. But Miss Guan Weizhen, the badminton champion who won nine world titles, actually played the role of a boat tracker when filming her personal documentary on the Maoyan River. She even improvised a poem on the spot: "Riding the tide rafting on Maoyan River, surging through rapids, singing together. Full of passion entrusted to mountains and waters, not letting time pass in vain."
(Yanhe Rapids) Friends, ahead is a rapid with a drop of 5–6 meters—the most thrilling and spectacular rapids on the Maoyan River. Please brace yourselves, pay attention to safety, and feel that heroic spirit and excitement of battling the raging waves.
(Shuidongzi Waterfall) Shuidongzi Waterfall is the ace scenic spot of the Maoyan River. Please look up to the left—from a stone cave over 70 meters high, a stream of groundwater gushes out, sometimes gathering and sometimes scattering as it flows down the cliff, like scattered jade across the mountain, like icicles sliding down. Near the riverside cliff, it forms a massive waterfall dozens of meters wide, plunging straight down with a roar that shakes the gorge. On the opposite bank stand several huge rocks, like a natural viewing platform—the best spot for tourists to take photos. Everyone who comes to raft the Maoyan River stops here to admire the view or take pictures. In June 1991, Li Menghua, then Director of the National Sports Commission and Chairman of the All-China Sports Federation, rafted the Maoyan River and improvised an inscription in front of this waterfall: "A light boat tours Maoyan, joy amid the waves. Life is like rafting, constantly passing through rapids." The first two lines express the relaxed, joyful, and pleasant feeling of rafting, while the last two lines take a turn, using rafting as a metaphor for life's winding path—it can't always be smooth sailing—containing profound philosophy. Now please disembark and rest here, take photos, and bring home the sound of the Maoyan River's waves and the shadows of its gorge!
(Qin Hou City) Friends, please look to the left—there's a village area called Qin Hou City. Legend has it that in the late Yuan Dynasty, before Qin Hou rose in response to the uprisings of Xu Shouhui and Chen Youliang, he made strategic preparations for a protracted war and established a very complete defense system. He successively set up military strongholds at key points such as Cili Yongding Ferry and the Maoyan River, which later generations called "Qin Hou City." At the same time, several passes were established to deal with powerful enemies. On the Maogang Tusi side, there were Maozhaizi Pass, Maotou Pass, Heisong Pass, and Wentang Pass. Because this fortress was built of yellow earth, it was also called Yellow Earth City. When Zhu Yuanzhang sent Yang Jing and Zhou Dexing to attack Maogang Tusi by land and water, they fought bloody battles with the Tujia troops at Yellow Earth City for over ten days before finally destroying the earthen fortress.
Next, I'll sing a couple of Tujia folk songs for everyone to add to the fun, shall I? First I'll read the lyrics, then sing:
Man: Across the river I see my love dressed in blue, she's a flower that drives men crazy.
I want to court her but can't speak up, so I toss a stone to test the water's depth.
Woman: On the hill across, the cat cries for spring, now slow, now urgent.
If you truly love me, brother, what matter if mountains are high and waters deep.
Now, I'll sing a few more raftsmen's love songs for everyone:
Which rapids have water that isn't steep? The moon comes out bright and clear;
Which sesame doesn't yield oil? The purple bamboo pipe leans against the door frame;
Which mountain bird doesn't sing? If you're willing to follow me, don't fear widowhood;
Which raftsman isn't romantic? Never in this life burn incense looking back.
Which cuckoo doesn't call for spring? The blacksmith strikes iron, iron strikes iron,
Which grapevine doesn't climb? Wind blows the lotus leaves, leaf upon leaf;
Which bee doesn't gather honey? Brother and sister sit at the front of the raft,
Which young woman doesn't fall in love? Raft and water depend on each other, inseparable.
A wooden raft flows downstream, brother is willing and sister is willing,
A raftsman sits at the raft's head; not afraid of others' malicious words;
I want to sit on the raft and follow him, malicious words are like river waves,
Only afraid the raftsman won't nod, grip the bamboo pole and steady through the rapids.
A good woman shouldn't marry a raftsman, brother poles the front, sister poles the rear,
Nine out of ten raftsmen drift, a small wooden raft drifts on the water;
Alive, light the lamp and live as a widow, brother and sister pole the raft through the river,
After death, the lamp goes out and she keeps watch till white-haired, no matter if the waves rise ten thousand feet!
Friends, today's rafting is about to end. Thank you all for your close cooperation. As the saying goes: to share a boat across the river takes five hundred years of cultivation. We've shared a boat, crossed empty gorges, passed treacherous rapids, and rafted dozens of kilometers—this can be said to be a destiny cultivated over a thousand years. May the beautiful scenery of the Maoyan River remain forever in your hearts, and may the "dancing with the waves, thrilling but safe" Maoyan River rafting leave you with memories you'll never forget.
Maoyan Lake
Today I'm very happy to accompany you all on a calm-lake cruise to Maoyan Lake. Maoyan is 42 kilometers from Zhangjiajie city center and belongs to the upper section of the Maoyan River. With the construction of the Yutan Power Station and the dam closing to store water, the once wildly unrestrained upper Maoyan River became a watery realm overnight, and the scenic area was also divided in two: the lower section still offers rafting, while the upper section became what is now Maoyan Lake.
Maoyan Lake starts from the power station dam and extends upstream to Kuzhu Town in Sangzhi County, with a 20-kilometer lake area. Green mountains and emerald waters, high gorges and perilous cliffs, karst caves and ancient villages, Tujia customs, and folk legends all adorn Maoyan Lake with splendor and charm. The cliffs on both sides of the lake are mostly at 90 degrees, and the winding waterways plus the rushing streams and valleys extending deep into the mountains make Maoyan Lake all the more pristine and wild, like the chapters of a great book, each one gripping and intoxicating.
(Yutan Power Station) This is the first stop of the Maoyan Lake cruise. Yutan Power Station was constructed by the Sixth Engineering Company of Gezhouba, starting in 1991 and fully completed in 1997, with a total investment of over 400 million yuan. The dam is 56.5 meters high, of the hollow gravity dam type, with a reservoir capacity of 129 million cubic meters. It has 4 generating units with a total installed capacity of 70,000 kilowatts and an annual power generation of 290 million kilowatt-hours. It is currently the largest modern power station on the main stream of the Lishui River.
The main purpose of building Yutan Power Station was to regulate the water volume downstream of the Lishui River, relieve pressure on Dongting Lake, and curb flooding. At the same time, the high-gorge calm lake formed by the dam's water storage provides us with a rare tourist landscape. Next, everyone will board cruise boats and speedboats to enjoy the beautiful scenery of Maoyan Lake, and then go to experience the vast wonders of the underground labyrinth, Jiutian Cave.
(Huilong Ridge) This hill covered with ancient trees ahead is called Huilong Ridge, named for its terrain that winds like a dragon's body. Huilong Ridge is surrounded by water on three sides and backed by mountains on one. It covers about 100 mu, densely covered with over 1,000 bitter oak and maple trees, including more than 300 ancient trees over a thousand years old, lush and verdant, casting deep shade.
(Tusi City Ruins) Everyone look toward that stretch of water to the right front—that's the site of Maogang Tusi City. Maogang borders Sangzhi and connects to Yongshun; in terms of water transportation, it could be called the western gate of ancient Dayong. From the Yuan to the Qing Dynasty, Maogang was always the hereditary territory of the Qin family Tusi. Maogang Tusi City was built along the Lishui River, with wooden stilted buildings, crisscrossing streets and alleys, and shops, inns, and restaurants everywhere—a scene of prosperity. During the heyday of the Maogang Tusi, there were three streets and six alleys, plus a seven-courtyard imperial hall, temples, and Taoist monasteries. Historical records say: "Merchant ships and trader vessels came and went in an endless stream, almost equal to a great metropolis."
In the 51st year of Emperor Qianlong's reign (1786 AD), a landslide occurred in the Maoyan ancient village area west of Maogang City, blocking the Lishui River and interrupting traffic for 108 years. From then on, Maogang Tusi City gradually declined, and most residents and merchants moved away. By the late Qing and early Republic, the Tusi City had fallen into ruin. Now, due to the dam's water storage, the ancient city and its long Tusi history lie buried beneath a vast expanse of water.
(Maogang Tujia People) The Maoyan Lake area is where the Tujia people have lived and multiplied for generations. The Maogang Qin family Tusi passed down through over 20 generations, ruling here for 600 years. Among them, Qin Hou is the most revered hero among the Tusi of all generations, and many place names and scenic spots in the area are named after him. Before we cruise deeper into Maoyan Lake for sightseeing, I'd like to briefly introduce the Maogang Tujia people, the Maogang Tusi, and King Qin Hou, to deepen your understanding of the local Tujia people.
The Tujia people have a long history with deep roots, directly related to the ancient Ba people. After King Wu of Zhou overthrew the Shang Dynasty, he enfeoffed his kinsmen of the Ji surname in Ba territory, called the Ba Zi State, with eastern Sichuan and western Hubei as its fiefdom. During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, the Ba people contended with the powerful Chu state, expanding their range to the Wuling region and the Qingjiang River basin. In 223 AD, Qin destroyed Chu, and most Ba people became registered subjects of Qin. The Ba people declined sharply, some forced to migrate. Only those settled in the Wuling mountain hinterland along the Hunan-Hubei-Sichuan-Guizhou border remained relatively stable, multiplying and continuing to this day. Later, descendants of the Ba people moved east from the Qingjiang River basin in western Hubei and settled in the Lishui River basin, with the four major surnames—Tian, Qin, Xiang, and Peng—being particularly prosperous. The emergence of "Tujia" as an ethnic designation is directly related to the migration of Han Chinese into their territory. After the Song Dynasty, especially after the Qing Dynasty's "replacing native rule with centralized administration" policy, Han Chinese migrated in large numbers into the Ba people's ancestral lands. To distinguish themselves from the newly arrived outsiders, the terms "Tujia" (native families) and "Kejia" (guest families) came into being. The official names for the Tujia ancestors were Danman, Tianmen Danman, Nanman, Wuling Man, Jingzhou Man, Wuxi Man, Turen Man, Tuding, Tujun, etc. "Tujia" is the Tujia people's own name in Chinese, and thus the name "Tujia" came about.
The Tusi system began in the Southern Song Dynasty. In the third year of Jiatai, to rule the natives through natives, leaders of wisdom, courage, and prestige were selected from the Wuxi Man and made chiefs, called Tusi Kings. The establishment of a Tusi required approval from the imperial court and the conferral of a seal by the emperor. The Tusi was a combination of political and military power, enjoying hereditary rights. Besides strict political rule, the Maogang Tusi particularly emphasized military control. Within the Tusi, all males were soldiers. Boys were given iron implements at birth to grow up with, trained in martial arts as youths, and conscripted into the army as young men, ready for deployment at any time. Tujia soldiers fought with great bravery. Whenever called upon by the emperor for campaigns, they always returned victorious. The most influential Maogang Qin family Tusi was the third generation—King Qin Hou. He was born in the fourth year of Emperor Wuzong of Yuan's Zhida reign (1311 AD). From childhood he developed excellent martial skills, made many friends, and acted chivalrously. He once served as the Pacification Commissioner of Cigu Prefecture and the Hubei-Hunan Legal Officer (judge). Later he rallied the chieftains of eighteen caves to rise against the Yuan. After Zhu Yuanzhang proclaimed himself emperor, he adopted discriminatory and oppressive policies toward the Man and other ethnic minorities, which aroused Qin Hou's discontent. He collected taxes independently, expanded his military forces, and resisted the Ming army. Within a year his forces reached over 100,000, shaking the Ming empire. Zhu Yuanzhang sent troops multiple times to suppress him but failed. In the fourth year of Hongwu (1371), Zhu Yuanzhang ordered Yang Jing and Zhou Dexing to lead several hundred thousand troops with a deadline to crush him. The two armies fought dozens of fierce battles at Baizhang Gorge in Zhangjiajie. Ultimately, overwhelmed by superior numbers, Qin Hou retreated to Qinian Fort in Maogang. Yang Jing and Zhou Dexing divided their forces for a pincer attack, surrounding Qinian Fort. Qin Hou held out using the terrain, and the Ming army could not win. Zhou Dexing used a stratagem of sowing discord; Qin Hou was betrayed by his son-in-law Zhu Siji and captured. On the sixth day of the sixth lunar month in the fifth year of Hongwu (1372 AD), Qin Hou was executed by slow slicing in Nanjing by order of Zhu Yuanzhang.
(Drying Pole) Please look up at the cliff on the right. There's a small stone niche with a dark brown pole about the thickness of a wine cup and about 3 meters long placed diagonally inside. Folk legend says this is the spear Qin Hou used. Locals all call it Qin Hou's Spear. Qin Hou had extraordinary arm strength and outstanding martial skills, and used it many times to defeat government troops. After Qin Hou was killed, his subordinates placed the spear here to overawe Maogang and forever protect the Tujia people's peace. Another story says it was a drying pole Qin Hou used when he retreated to a cave while fighting government troops. Whether it's a spear or a pole, whether it's iron or wood, remains unknown to this day. If iron, it should have rusted; if wood, it should have rotted. Through 600 years of wind and rain, it has remained stuck on this sheer cliff, neither rotting nor decaying—a mystery.
A few years ago, when tourism was being developed, several villagers from Qinian Fort resolved to solve the 600-year-old mystery. They lowered themselves down the cliff on ropes. As one farmer approached the stone niche, a rock suddenly fell from the cliff face, nearly hitting his head. Then it suddenly began to hail, scaring them into a hasty retreat. Perhaps this was a coincidence, but the event itself is absolutely true. Later, the Central Newsreel and Documentary Film Studio and CCTV came to Maoyan Lake to film, but even with high-powered telescopes they couldn't figure it out, and could only gaze at the pole and sigh, letting it remain a mystery forever. Friends, based on your own observation and analysis, what judgment would you make?
(Qin Hou's Stove) Please look this way: that's a natural stone bridge, with an arch about 50 meters high, about 40 meters long, and about 30 meters wide. But the ancients didn't call it a bridge—legend says it was the stove Qin Hou used to cook for his troops during his uprising. If you go up to take a look, you'll find a circular depression of about 300 square meters behind the "bridge," closely resembling a stove chamber, with the bridge opening as the stove door. Behind the stove chamber, on the cliff face, there are three large karst caves leading outside, like chimneys. This is simply a masterpiece of nature's anthropomorphism. You might ask: with such a big stove, where's the pot? With a stove but no pot, how do you cook? Don't worry—there certainly is a pot, but you'd have to go to Guokeng (Pot Pit) over 10 kilometers away to see it. That's a super-sized pot worthy of a Guinness World Record.
(Ca'er Ditch) This is Ca'er Ditch (Ear-Brushing Ditch). Because the ravine is so narrow that walking through it, the walls brush against your ears on both sides, the local Tujia people gave it this straightforward name. Ca'er Ditch is about 3 kilometers long and was formed by crustal movement and fracturing hundreds of millions of years ago. This kind of natural wonder is very rare among the many "single-line sky" landscapes.
(Two Tigers Guarding the Fort) Please look in the direction I'm pointing. Close to Qinian Fort ahead, two mountain ridges accompany each other across the river, nearly identical in shape and size, exactly like two crouching tigers guarding the waterway of the Maoyan River. What a coincidence—this folk legend coincides with the Tujia people's worship of tigers. In fact, the two mountain tops were once guard posts where Qin Hou set up cannon platforms. When the Ming general Zhou Dexing attacked Qinian Fort, he repeatedly failed, which had to do with the stubborn resistance of these two "tigers."
(Qinian Fort) The Qinian Fort I've mentioned several times is now right before our eyes. This is an ancient battlefield from the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties, named because King Qin Hou led his soldiers in resisting the Ming army here for seven years. Qinian Fort is Qin Hou's hometown. It faces water on one side and has cliffs on three sides, with only one gate for passage in and out—the terrain is extremely perilous. The cliff top is relatively flat, dotted with hillocks of various sizes and interspersed with hundreds of mu of rice paddies. To the northwest, across Daye Stream, is Yuejia Mountain. People standing on the cliff tops of both sides can talk to each other, but to actually get together, you'd have to take a detour of half a day. When Qin Hou led several thousand soldiers here in a risky resistance against the Ming, he used bamboo cables to build a flying bridge connecting Qinian Fort and Yuejia Mountain for advance and retreat. In the fifth year of Hongwu, Ming generals Zhou Dexing and Yang Jing surrounded Qinian Fort but repeatedly failed to take it. They used a stratagem of sowing discord to lure Qin Hou down the mountain, where he was captured. The Ming army seized the opportunity to break through the fort. Defending generals Luo Fei, Qin Ren, and others fought their way across the flying bridge and fled to Sangzhi; Qin Yuan, Qin Yi, and others escaped through Qin Hou Cave to Yuanling; the famous Tujia general Bagu Pi jumped into Daye Stream and died a heroic death. This tiny speck of land hidden deep in the Wuling Mountains, Qinian Fort, enacted a tragic and heroic history of the Tujia ancestors' defiance of tyranny and resistance against oppressive rule. More than 600 years have passed. What we see now are only the remnants of the ancient battlefield and the broken walls of the ancient city.
The contemporary scholar Mr. Tian Qifu wrote a poem titled "Ancient Fort and Majestic Pass" about Qinian Fort:
Jagged rocks bristle with cold sword spirit, iron armor once trod through beacon smoke.
Vine bridges hang broken at Flying Bridge Valley, imperial expeditions launched, boats of congratulation sailed.
Three sides of sheer cliffs encircle the ancient fort, one stretch of fine water guards the majestic pass.
Flowing springs weep tears for a lost kingly enterprise, yellow flowers everywhere amid remnant battle traces.
(Qin Hou's Cannon Platform) Please look—on the steep stone wall to the left there's a cave called Qin Hou Cave. The stone battlements on the lower side are Qin Hou's Cannon Platform, about 7 meters high and 3 meters wide, with embrasures on three sides and arrow crenellations. The platform controlled passing boats and the mountain path on the opposite bank of Daye Stream within cannon and crossbow range, while that karst cave was an underground transport passage, allowing free advance and retreat—truly a position where one man could hold the pass against ten thousand.
(Maoyan Village) This is the site of the ancient Maogang village, a famous Tusi commercial port during the Song and Yuan dynasties. In the 51st year of Qianlong's reign (1786 AD), a landslide occurred on Yuejia Mountain behind the village. Legend says that a few days before the landslide, rats in the village came out in groups to "parade" in the streets, crows cried day and night in the sky, and wild animals emerged in droves from the mountain forests, scurrying into the village and wailing. An old man carried a long bamboo pole on his shoulder, walking up and down repeatedly calling: "Move the pole! Move the pole!" People took him for a madman. Only when the city was destroyed and people killed did they realize this was an immortal's cryptic message—"move the pole" (搬篙) sounded like "move higher" (搬高), warning villagers to relocate upstream. Unfortunately, no one saw through it. Thus an ancient village of several thousand people was buried in the Lishui River overnight. Of the Liu family's 108 members, only one survived; all the rest perished. The river was blocked, forming a vast high-gorge calm lake. Water rose to the foot of Sangzhi city, and the transportation artery was cut off for 108 years. Because the channel was blocked, "boats traveling here had to hire porters to carry goods over several li, then hire other boats to continue." Maoyan Village revived. A children's rhyme circulated at the time: "Unless the old dragon comes, Maoyan will never open." After 108 years, Sangzhi County Magistrate Long Qitao initiated the excavation. It took three years to complete, fulfilling the old rhyme—clearing Maoyan was none other than the old dragon (Long Qitao).
(Diving Platform) Please look up at the cliff top about 200 meters high on the opposite bank. There's a slab-like huge rock six or seven meters long, extending flat over the lake center like a diver's platform. Legend says Qin Hou often leaped from this hundred-zhang natural diving platform into the Maoyan River to bathe, swim, and practice water skills.
(Dongzifang) That's Dongzifang, an important transportation route in ancient times connecting the Maogang Tusi with the Yongshun Tusi. The east bank is called Shendang Ping. In the late Yuan Dynasty, the realm was in chaos. Qin Hou led the Tujia people in response to the Red Turban Army uprising of Xu Shouhui and Chen Youliang in Huguang, overthrowing the Yuan Dynasty's Maogang Wu family Pacification Commissioner's Office in one stroke. The Yuan court sent the civil official Ren Wenren and General Manahan to jointly suppress Qin Hou's rebel army. One night, the Yuan army attempted a night raid on Qin Hou's camp. The Tujia soldiers were deep in sleep when suddenly a bird accidentally struck a gong, waking the soldiers. They quickly cut the ropes, and rolling logs and boulders came crashing down together, defeating the Yuan army. Afterwards, the Tujia people believed it was divine intervention blocking the enemy, so they called this place "Shendang Ping" (Divine Blockade Flat).
(Blood Gate Ditch) Please look to the right. This is a fault-block canyon called Blood Gate Ditch. The stone walls on both sides are over 100 meters high, only 2–3 meters wide, and extend 6 kilometers deep, like a crack in the earth. Some say the earth spun too fast and threw out its back here. Originally, visitors could walk and play in the ditch, but now it's been submerged, and you can only enter by renting small boats or rubber dinghies. The stone walls on both sides are sheer as if cut, smooth as jade. Looking up, you can only see a sliver of sky. The stone walls are reddish-brown. Legend says that during the Battle of Shendang Ping, Yuan soldiers' blood stained the valley, hence the name Blood Gate Ditch.
(Qin Hou's Bell) This section of the Lishui River is called Wind Cave River. Climbing about ten meters up that stone wall, there's an ancient cave called Wind Cave. Inside is a stone slab with 11 square stone hollows of varying sizes underneath. Strike it with your hand, and the slab emits a sound like a bronze gong that lasts about 20 seconds. But you can't hit it with a stone—it won't make a sound. Folk legend says Qin Hou practiced martial arts here as a youth and often struck the stone with his hand, and over time it produced musical sounds, hence the name Qin Hou's Bell. Later, Tujia people went into the cave to make saltpeter and occasionally accidentally struck the stone bell, which made a sound that scared them into fleeing. If anyone is interested, feel free to go in and try—let's solve the mystery of the singing stone together.
(Kuzhu Village) The village straight ahead is Kuzhu Village. Because a strange kind of bitter bamboo grows in this area, this stretch of river is called Kuzhu River, and the village is called Kuzhu Village. Kuzhu Village was formerly part of the Maogang Tusi's territory.
Although Kuzhu Village is in a deep mountain gorge, it once had a period of glory. It was a distribution center for goods from the border areas of Sangzhi, Yongshun, and Yongding counties, as well as parts of eastern Sichuan and western Hubei. Many local products such as tung oil, animal hides, palm fiber, and timber were shipped out from here, and the ancient village developed rapidly as a result. By the late Qing Dynasty, it had reached considerable scale, with a permanent population of over 2,000. During the Republic of China period, wars broke out repeatedly and public order deteriorated. The village suffered repeated plundering by bandits and robbers and gradually declined.
Kuzhu Village's houses are built against the mountain, with simple ancient styles, varied designs, and pleasing irregularity. There are low wooden houses and tall fire-separation walls, with streets paved uniformly in bluestone slabs—some walls are even inset with large bluestone slabs. Inside the village, the Peng Family Ancestral Hall is especially tall, spacious, and imposing. Today, most buildings and the old wharf still retain their original appearance, antique and uniquely charming. Though dilapidated, traces of the Tusi culture of those days can still be seen.
Kuzhu Village is the last stop of the Maoyan Lake scenic area. Now we'll set off from here, drive 3 kilometers, and go directly to Asia's Number One Cave—Jiutian Cave.
[Appendix] Four Wonders of the Maoyan River
Bangtou Spring: In the western part of Maoyan River, there is a karst cave called Betel Nut Cave that runs through the mountain for several kilometers. Outside the cave is a spring called Miyan Spring, where village women often do their washing and beating clothes. As they pound and splash, the spring water slowly rises and soaks their bottoms. When the pounding stops, the water recedes. The locals call it "Bangtou Spring."
Intermittent Spring: By the Ha Stream on the Maoyan River, there is a strange spring: about every 20 minutes, bubbles emerge on the water surface, accompanied by a gurgling sound. The bubbles grow from small to large and from few to many; when they reach a certain limit, a stream of spring water gushes out from the rock crevices. After 15 minutes, the outflow gradually weakens and the water surface slowly calms. This cycle repeats endlessly. Sometimes muddy water gushes out, which accurately tells you: there will be a heavy rain soon.
Salt Spring: Located in the middle section of the Maoyan River at the center of the river by Huilong Temple and Zhumuzilin. The salt spring emerges from the riverbed, milky white and salty in taste. In winter, when the water level in the center of the river is very low, the emerging salt spring looks like a giant snow lotus. Although the water of the salt spring is not as salty as table salt, in the old society many poor people fetched water from the salt spring in the middle of the river to cook their meals.
Fog-Shouting Cave: In the western part of Maoyan River at Tu'er Jie, there is a karst cave about 15 meters high and 20 meters wide. In the cave vault there is a stone crevice. Normally the cave is quiet with no fog, but if a person shouts, thin mist drifts out from the crevice; the louder the shout, the thicker the mist, covering the cave mouth. If the shouting stops, the mist gradually disperses.
Jiutian Cave
Friends, welcome to visit Jiutian Cave. Jiutian Cave gets its name from having nine natural skylights connecting to the ground above the cave ceiling. It was discovered in 1987 by cave explorer Wang Hairan, officially opened to visitors in 1988, and listed as a provincial scenic area. In the same year, after investigation and evaluation by experts from international cave organizations, it was deemed that Jiutian Cave is vast in scale, unique in landscape, and still has a number of undeveloped cave clusters suitable for exploration and investigation. Therefore, Jiutian Cave was formally accepted as an international cave exploration base. From then on, Jiutian Cave entered the international cave world and its status rose greatly. Investigations have found ancient tree fossils and other karst materials rarely seen in caves, which are not only rare natural landscapes but also of extremely high scientific research value. At present, the area proven accessible for sightseeing is 250 hectares, earning it the title of "Asia's Largest Cave." The cave is divided into upper, middle, and lower levels; the lower level is more than 400 meters from the cave entrance, with a year-round temperature of 20–22°C. Inside the cave there are five spiral viewing platforms, more than 30 large halls, three underground rivers with considerable drops, 12 waterfalls, as well as landscapes such as natural bridges and Thousand-Field Terraces. The stalactites are varied and richly diverse in form.
(Welcome Hall) The hall we are in has an area of about 2,500 square meters and consists of the Heavenly Pool, the Main Hall, and the Inner Hall. The average height of the hall is about 30 meters, and the center is about 100 meters from the cave ceiling. Over here is an oval pool of 60 square meters; water drips into the pool from the cave ceiling all year round, producing a rhythmic tinkling sound. Please look in the direction I am pointing. In the center of the hall there is a stone pillar two to three meters high, dark green in color. At first glance it looks like a pine tree, mottled and speckled, but when viewed from the front it resembles a half-length portrait of a person in blue-purple clothing, with a gauze scarf on the head, as if nodding to welcome your honored presence.
(Lotus Hall) This is called the Lotus Hall. Everyone look up above your heads: suspended from the ceiling is a pale red stalactite, like a giant lotus bud about to bloom, with glistening droplets of water constantly dripping from its heart — never stopping even after months without rain. On the left side of the hall stands a stalactite about 2 meters tall, resembling the merciful and kindly Guanyin Bodhisattva, guarded behind by dozens of stone stalagmites around 10 meters tall. In the semicircular pool to the southeast of the hall are several partly exposed, partly hidden dissolved stones — red inside and yellow outside — with threads of blood-red lines clearly visible. Scientific analysis shows this is caused by copper elements contained in the dissolved stone.
(Nine Heavens Treasure Hall) This large hall is located on the upper level of Nine Heavens Cave. On the east side of the hall stands a large stalactite shaped like an ancient bianzhong (chime bell), about 30 meters tall with a circumference of 5–6 meters, surrounded by glistening translucent milky-white small stone pillars that give off a humming sound when struck. If anyone is interested, you might gently tap this stone pillar with your hand — doesn't the sound resemble an ancient chime bell? But whatever you do, don't strike it hard with a stone; this is a historical "artifact" that took millions of years to form! Now look over here: not far from this chime-bell pillar, on the right side of the hall, several enormous stone pillars stand in a row. One of them, over 40 meters tall with a circumference of 32 meters, is called the Pillar Holding Up the Sky, the largest stone pillar yet discovered in the cave. The one behind it, also over 30 meters tall, with sharp, distinct edges pointing straight up to the cave ceiling, is called the Divine Child's Golden Whip. Above the southwest part of the hall is a vertical skylight, with a shaft of daylight pouring down from the cave ceiling, very much like a spotlight beaming down from above on a stage — people call it the Skylight Treasure Light. If you're lucky enough to have your photo taken dancing under this natural spotlight, it will absolutely be an artistic photo worth showing off for a lifetime.
(Nine Heavens Dragon Palace) This hall covers about 700 square meters and is filled with colorful stone draperies and curtains, giving it a luxurious and magnificent feel — hence the name Dragon Palace. At the north end of the hall are nine stone pillars less than a meter tall, standing like civil officials and military generals guarding another towering stone figure. On the stone pillar to the left of the Dragon Palace, sulfur-bearing ore magma has seeped and stained year after year to form nine rows of scale patterns coiling around it, while calcium carbonate solution has congealed at the top into the shape of a dragon's head — this is called Nine Dragons Coiling Around the Pillar. To the southwest are two stone pillars of different lengths, like a giant's middle and index fingers propping up a huge slab of bluestone at the cave ceiling — called Two Fingers Holding Up the Sky, a landscape found nowhere else in the cave.
(Heaven and the Mortal World) Please pay attention: this man-made stone path runs over 180 meters. Because the terrain is extremely steep and dangerous, it is also called the One Road Up Mount Hua. Looking around, you see a myriad of scenes — countless stalagmites and stone draperies forming an underground peak-forest wonderland just like Tianzi Mountain, leaving one gasping in amazement. At this moment, don't you all feel as if you're standing in the clouds of the ninth heaven, looking down upon the vast mortal world?
(Underground Forest) Look, everyone — that large expanse of stalactite pillars ahead, some big and some small, some thick and some thin, some like clusters of shrubs, others like towering trees, densely and sparsely interspersed, uneven in height. Someone boldly imagined that it is a primeval forest! But this is an underground forest, older by tens of thousands of years than the living plant fossils left on land from prehistoric times — the dove tree, the dawn redwood, and the ginkgo.
In the early 1980s, a group of foreign cave exploration experts spoke highly of this underground ecological "vegetation": such a reasonably distributed, uniquely shaped, and breathtaking "underground forest" is absolutely unmatched among the world's caves.
(Hundred Treasures Lake) This is an underground lake formed by karst processes, 65 meters long from east to west, 24 meters wide from north to south, and 1–4 meters deep. The water is so clear you can see the bottom, and the stalactites on both sides are reflected in the lake in a thousand shapes and forms. Beside the stone wall at the lakeside stand two stone pillars, each requiring three people with outstretched arms to encircle, over 20 meters tall, round outside and hollow inside — tap them lightly and they ring with a clear, resonant sound. If a guqin master were invited to carefully tune them, a concert on the lake could be held right here. Along both shores of the lake are clusters of "silver mushrooms" and stone flowers, like natural bonsai. In Hundred Treasures Lake there is also something called the "hair-absorbing water ball," rarely seen in caves at home or abroad.
(Nine Heavens Milky Way) Friends, doesn't the sight before us look like a waterfall? In fact, it is a silvery-white stone waterfall, 40 meters wide and 10 meters tall, formed by carbonate karst slurry. In the rainy season, water drips ceaselessly from the cave mouth, splashing like pearls and jade; in the dry season, it shines with a dazzling silver light. That is why it is called the Nine Heavens Milky Way.
(Ancient Battlefield of the Heavenly Realm) This is a gently sloping hall with an area of about 3,500 square meters. Inside are hundreds of stalactites, some tall and some short, crisscrossing in all directions, just like the Terracotta Warriors unearthed in Xi'an. Ladies and gentlemen: as you take in this scene of war, with weapons raised and fierce fighting, can you not almost hear the clashing of swords and spears and the battle cries of soldiers?
(Jade Palace) This hall of more than 800 square meters houses thousands of stalagmites and stalactite pillars. Because these stalactites are exquisitely delicate and translucent throughout, with forms of every kind, legend has it that this was a playground for dragon maidens and dragon consorts, and so it is called the Jade Palace. Look at this stalactite: more than 30 meters tall but only 15 centimeters in diameter, like a Snow White dressed in full finery, slender and graceful, with a charming, curvaceous figure.
(Crystal Palace) This is another superb sight in Jiutian Cave. The cave is filled with calcite containing phosphate deposits, which glitters and dazzles the eyes under the light. Many stalagmites, stone bamboos, stone draperies, and stone flowers are snow-white, and we call this one the "Leaning Tower of Pisa." Below the tower is a pond, its surface as smooth as a mirror, where dark green stone lotus leaves and blossoming stone lotus flowers set each other off beautifully, reminding one of the poetic lines "Green lotus leaves on the water, fragrant lotus flowers in the mirror."
(Palace of the Mystic Maiden) This is the largest "thousand-field terrace" in the cave, with an area of more than 5,000 square meters, called the Jiutian Mystic Palace. Look: behind this more than 30-meter-high jade curtain, the Mystic Maiden of the Nine Heavens wears a phoenix crown and holds a baby in her arms, dignified in bearing, with kind brows and gentle eyes as she looks over all living beings. Behind her is a stretch of silvery-white stone drapery, and in the middle is a very slender stone pillar about 10 meters tall that can be grasped with one hand, called the Cave-Guarding Jade Needle. Below the Mystic Maiden and to the left, a pair of semi-oval stone basins hold pink stalactite pebbles, offerings of immortal peaches and longevity fruits to the Mystic Maiden. In front of the stone basins is a stone waterfall, like a hanging dressing mirror, the place where the Mystic Maiden bathes and adorns herself. The Palace of the Mystic Maiden blends mountains, water, wells, springs, stones, and waterfalls into one whole, and was praised by Professor Zhang Shouyue, director of the Karst Cave Laboratory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, as a natural gallery where "dripping stone fashions the Mystic Maiden, and the hidden river carves out the Nine Heavens."
(Palace of the Qin Emperor) Here is an underground pool, in the middle of which is a stone platform about 10 meters in diameter. On it stands a stalactite more than 40 meters high, like an old god of longevity sitting there calmly and composedly. Around it cluster stalactites of various sizes, like a group of greedy monkeys gazing at the old god of longevity. Opposite, under a stone drapery canopy, wine gourds large and small hang from golden threads, making these stone monkeys drool with desire, a scene that strikes one as both comical and amusing.
Friends, standing in this magnificent underground labyrinth, you may ask: how were these karst cave landscapes formed?
According to expert research, the formation of karst caves is due to the chemical and mechanical action of water. The bedding planes, joints, and faults of limestone layers make it easy for water to seep in. Over the long geological ages, after water containing carbon dioxide gas (carbonic acid) seeped into carbonate rock and dissolved it, calcium bicarbonate was carried away by the water, leaving cavities behind. Through tens of thousands of years of continuous dissolution, these gradually expanded into caves. The limestone bedding is gentle and the joints are numerous, cracking the rock into a network. Therefore, caves formed along bedding planes are large and flat, while those formed along joints are crisscrossing, with winding passages. The many stalagmites, stone pillars, and stalactites in the cave were formed when groundwater containing calcium bicarbonate seeped out from cracks in the cave ceiling: carbon dioxide escaped, water evaporated, and calcium bicarbonate precipitated and gradually built up at the cracks. At first a small protrusion appeared on the ceiling; later it grew larger and extended downward, and over a long time it formed a bell-shaped or breast-shaped stalactite. Calcium bicarbonate liquid that failed to precipitate on the ceiling as a stalactite fell to the floor and accumulated there, gradually growing upward to form a stalagmite. When a stalactite and the stalagmite in the corresponding position join, they become a pillar connected from top to bottom. If there is a hollow space inside a stalactite or stalagmite, or if the limestone has been dissolved underground into a coincidentally hollow cavity, it becomes a stone drum or stone zither that sounds when struck or plucked (such as the "bianzhong" we saw in the cave). A cave submerged by groundwater becomes the underground river within the cave.