Wonderful Mountains and Waters, a Heaven-sent Blessed Land (Part 4)
Section 4: Springs, Caves and Karst Wonders. Hunan's Largest Buddhist Weiyang Sect Mausoleum — Ningxiang's Thousand Buddha Cave. Located in Cuiping Township, Ningxiang County, it is a karst cave formed 360 million years ago with complex terrain and a rare underground gorge nearly 100 meters deep. Originally called "Thirteen Caves," historical records say it consists of 13 interconnected caves.
This article has been compiled from historical materials in the "Zhangjiajie Tour Guide Network" (33519.com · City Overview section). Some administrative divisions, population, socioeconomic data, and policy information may be outdated and are for reference only; for the latest situation, please refer to official releases by the local government and scenic areas.
Section Four
Spring Grottoes and Official Caves, Superb Workmanship of Nature
Hunan's Largest Buddhist Weiyang Gaozong Cemetery—Ningxiang Thousand Buddha Cave
The "Thousand Buddha Cave" is located in Cuiping Township, Ningxiang County. It is a karst cave formed 360 million years ago, with complex landforms and a rare in-cave gorge with a vertical height of nearly 100 meters. The Thousand Buddha Cave was originally named "Thirteen Caves," and historical records say it consists of 13 interconnected karst caves. It has the reputation of being the "Number One Buddha Cave under Heaven." Legend has it that the Thousand Buddha Cave is more than 20 kilometers long, with deep and secluded cave valleys, winding and turning, and mysterious and unfathomable. At 150 meters into the cave, the Weiyang Gaozong Cemetery was discovered, covering an area of about 5 mu, backed by a large mountain (said to be Mile Mountain). The stone wall is up to 150 centimeters high, about 120 centimeters wide, and about 3 meters in remaining length. Its appearance is smooth, and it is the cemetery enclosure wall. On a nearly 2-meter-high bluestone tombstone, the writing is clear. The top line of the tombstone reads: The Ninth Generation Master of the Weiyang Orthodox Line, Monk Shangyixiaxiu. According to the tombstone text, its construction date is the "35th year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty." The cultural relics department believes this is the largest Buddhist Weiyang Gaozong cemetery discovered so far, and those buried in the cemetery's tomb pagodas are all eminent monks who deeply received the true transmission of the Weiyang School at Miyin Temple.
Asia's Most Beautiful Geological Museum—Xinhua Meishan Dragon Palace
Meishan Dragon Palace is located in Xinhua County. It is an underground karst cave group with nine levels of caves, composed of tens of thousands of karst caves. The explored length of the cave is 2,876 meters, the developed area is 58,600 square meters, and the currently visitable route is 1,696 meters long, including a 466-meter-long mysterious underground river rarely seen in the world. Among them are the "Nezha's Birth," "Ancient Riverbed," "Jade Emperor's Heavenly Palace," "Gorge and Cloudy Sky," and "Golden Mountain in the Water," hailed as the five greatest wonders of world karst cave landscapes. In 2003, experts attending the Ninth National Cave Research Conference concluded that the natural resources of Meishan Dragon Palace are second to none in the country. The development level of Meishan Dragon Palace is "first in Hunan, first-class in China, and advanced in the world." The wonder and charm of Meishan led Professor Lu Cunyue, advisor to the National Tourism Administration, to praise Meishan Dragon Palace as "Asia's most beautiful geological museum."
World Karst Cave Wonder—Zhangjiajie Yellow Dragon Cave
Zhangjiajie Yellow Dragon Cave is the core karst cave attraction of the flagship scenic area of Zhangjiajie Wulingyuan, a World Natural Heritage site. It is world-famous for top honors such as "World Karst Cave Wonder," "World All-Around Karst Cave Champion," and "China's Most Beautiful Tourist Karst Cave." The Yellow Dragon Cave is remarkable for its scale, completeness of content, and beauty of scenery. The explored total area of the cave floor is 100,000 square meters, the total length is 7.5 kilometers, and the vertical height is 140 meters. It is divided into two levels of dry caves and two levels of water caves. Inside the cave are 1 reservoir, 2 rivers, 3 pools, 4 waterfalls, 13 large halls, and 98 corridors. The cave contains six major scenic areas, including the Maze, Xiangshui River, Tianxian Water, Tianzhu Street, and Dragon Palace. The entire large cave is like an ancient tree with gnarled roots spreading out: caves within caves, floors above floors, and all kinds of cave wonders dazzling the eye and too beautiful to take in. Its scale, the number of stalactites, and the strangeness of their shapes are extremely rare among karst caves at home and abroad. With its three-dimensional cave structure, vast cave space, broad Dragon Palace hall, tens of thousands of stalagmites, tall cave waterfalls, and tour routes featuring both water and land, Zhangjiajie Yellow Dragon Cave forms a highly distinctive tourist cave at home and abroad. In 2005 it was selected as "China's Most Beautiful Tourist Karst Cave."
Asia's Number One Cave—Zhangjiajie Nine-Heaven Cave
Nine-Heaven Cave is located at the junction of Yongding District and Sangzhi County in Zhangjiajie City, Hunan Province. It is an extra-large karst cave of karst landform, with a complex structure, developed in the southern section of the third uplift of the Neocathaysian first-order structure, and belonging to the stratigraphic composite Permian system. Its lowest level is 470 meters below the ground surface. Its formation is due to water containing calcium bicarbonate seeping down from cracks above the surface; when it drips down, the calcium bicarbonate reacts with carbon dioxide in the air and solidifies into calcium carbonate that precipitates, and over long years accumulates into stalactites of various forms. Individual forms include stalagmites, stalactites, stone columns, stone curtains, underground rivers, waterfalls, dragon wells, natural bridges, thousand-field terraces, and natural lakes. The main landscapes include more than 30 scenic spots such as Tujia Mountain Village, Underground Forest, and Crystal Palace. The total area inside the cave is more than 2.5 million square meters, making it the largest karst cave in all of Asia, and it is honored as "Asia's Number One Cave."
Hunan's First Natural Musical Karst Cave—Xinning Eight-Tone Rock
Eight-Tone Rock is located in Langshan, Xinning, Shaoyang. It gets its name from a peculiar "stone zither" inside the rock. The "stone zither" is about 10 meters high, and when lightly struck with a wooden stick, it can produce eight musical notes and various melodies. It is the first musical rock discovered in our province. Eight-Tone Rock is 1,850 meters long in total and is divided into 8 levels and 12 halls, and can accommodate 5,000 people visiting the rock at the same time. The largest hall is 23 meters wide, and within the hall there are many scenic spots, with stone stalactites hanging like curtains in a thousand postures. Whenever the stone zither is struck, the lingering sound fills the palace within the rock, making visitors feel relaxed and joyful.
China's First Discovery of an "Underwater Crystal Cone" Karst Cave—Chenzhou Wanhua Rock
Wanhua Rock Karst Cave is located in Anhe Township, Wanhuayan Town, Chenzhou City. It is a large underground river karst cave still growing and developing, composed of main and branch caves with a total length of 9 kilometers; the main cave open to visitors is 2,245 meters long. The cave scenery is superb workmanship of nature, and it possesses the "underwater crystal cone" first discovered in China and second in the world, with high value for karst scientific research, tourism, and cave exploration. In March 1988, after a 12-member Sino-American joint lava expedition team came to Wanhua Rock for a one-week investigation, they praised Wanhua Rock as "one of the most beautiful caves in the world; she can rival all the beautiful karst caves in the world."
China's Rare Underground Stone Forest—Xinning Jade Maiden Rock
Jade Maiden Rock is located within Xinning County and is a newly blooming wonderful flower of the Liangshan Scenic and Historic Area. It is mysterious and deep, with a hundred turns and a thousand twists. Inside the cave, stalagmites, stone columns, stone curtains, and stone flowers are in a thousand postures. "Guanyin's Holy Image," "Jade Emperor," "Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea," and "Tang Monk and His Disciples" are solemn and sacred, with both spirit and form. "Golden Cat Soaring into the Air," "Mighty Lion Seeking Treasure," "Giant Shark Raising Its Head," and "Divine Ox Playing in Water" are lively and graceful, true to life. By the shore of "Jade Maiden Lake" is a naturally formed 2.8-meter-tall "Jade Maiden" stone statue, with her hair in a high bun, wearing cicada-wing garments, with a slender waist and full hips, graceful and charming. The characteristics of this karst cave are its steep caves, bizarre rocks, and beautiful waters, making it a relatively unique and rare underground stone forest.
China's Underground Great Wall—Linxiang Silver Water Maze
Silver Water Maze, namely the "6501" Tourism Scenic Area, is located at the southern foot of the towering Yaogu Mountain. It includes: the "6501" underground project, Longtan Lake, Sanduanjin Waterfall, Golden Beach, and surrounding cultural landscapes. It is a tourist scenic resort integrating mountains, water, caves, and beaches.
The "6501" underground project was built in 1965. It is divided into upper, middle, and lower levels, with a total length of 17,000 meters. It is praised as the "Number One Man-Made Cave under Heaven" and "China's Underground Great Wall," and can be called a wonder of China.
World Karst Cave Wonder—Zhangjiajie Dragon King Cave
Dragon King Cave is located 17 kilometers east of the Zhangjiajie Wulingyuan Scenic and Historic Area. It has been praised by karst cave experts as a "world karst cave wonder" and is one of China's largest and oldest karst caves, with extremely high archaeological value and tourism development value. Its total length is about 30 kilometers, with an average height of 50 meters and a width of 80 meters. It has 58 halls and platforms, 28 stone corridors, 15 pearl waterfalls, 3 underground rivers, 2 lakes, and 45 splash pools. Inside the cave, stalagmites, stalactites, stone curtains, and stone flowers are everywhere, dazzling the eye. There is also the Dragon King Treasure Pillar, known as the "Number One Pillar under Heaven," towering from earth to sky with magnificent momentum, leaving people amazed.
Eastern Hunan's Largest Karst Cave—Liuyang Gufeng Cave
Liuyang Gufeng Cave, also called Immortal Cave, is the largest karst cave in eastern Hunan. At the cave entrance is a bluestone stele inscribed in the fourth year of the Jiaqing reign (1799), titled "Record of Breaking the Darkness at Immortal Cave": "East of Liu there is Immortal Cave, deep for tens of li." Legend says it connects to nine caves inside, and the currently developed first, second, and third caves are about 800 meters deep. The first cave is over 100 meters long, more than 20 meters wide, and about 10 meters high (over 20 meters at the highest point), with a skylight opening above. In summer, cool breezes blow gently, making it a natural grand theater. In the cave, many inscriptions by ancients can also be seen, among them one dated "the 13th year of the Qianlong reign," with handwriting as clear as when first written. In the third cave and the fourth and fifth caves, there are also flat lakes several mu in size; after development, visitors can travel by boat in and out of this wondrous fairy palace. Near Gufeng Cave there are also Tianya Fort (where one can play at traversing), Longquan Well, Konggang Mountain, Xiaoxian Rock, Liuyang River rafting, Zhushuqiao Reservoir, and other landscapes, making it a tourist area rich in wild mountain charm and worthy of being called a rugged garden.
The World's First Cave Flown Through by Airplane—Tianmen Mountain Natural Karst Cave
Tianmen is located on Tianmen Mountain, the highest peak within Zhangjiajie. Zhangjiajie was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1992. Tianmen was gradually formed through hundreds of millions of years of geological movement. More than two thousand years ago, the poet Qu Yuan was exiled here and praised Tianmen Mountain as the gate to heaven. Tianmen is called a miracle of nature. The entrance of Tianmen Cave is at an elevation of 1,261 meters, the cave is 127.37 meters high, 279.42 meters deep, and the narrowest point of the entrance is 28.03 meters. As a giant cave piercing the mountain, it hangs high above a sheer cliff of ten thousand ren, and its altitude and perilous position embedded in the precipice are rare in the world. Flying through Tianmen was humanity's first bold attempt to pilot an aircraft through a natural cave, and it was the most sensational world sports challenge event. At 2:33 p.m. on December 11, 1999, Hungarian pilot Peter Besenyei successfully flew his aircraft through Tianmen Cave, becoming the first person in the world to pilot an aircraft through a natural cave. Guinness thus added a new record. Wang Yizhuo, general manager of the Shanghai Great Guinness headquarters, presented a certificate on site to Besenyei, the first to successfully fly through. Tianmen Mountain Natural Karst Cave thus became the world's first cave flown through by airplane.
The World's "Cave Treasure House"—Anhua Qingyun Cave
Qingyun Cave is located in western Anhua, in the middle section of the Xuefeng Mountains. Around Qingyun Cave, Sinian Early Nantuo glacial conglomerate and muddy rock from 700-800 million years ago is exposed in many places. After repeated investigations and demonstrations by domestic and foreign experts, it is considered to have international comparative significance. The wave-formed ripple marks on the bedding planes of the lightly metamorphosed quartz sandstone of the Wuqiangxi Formation of the Banxi Group are continuously exposed along the roadside for more than 1,000 meters, extremely rare. Qingyun Cave has many landscapes inside, rich and colorful, featuring radial stalactites and coral-like stalagmites, stone flowers, and stone needles. Other karst landscapes such as sinkholes, funnels, stone forests, and stone peaks are also well developed, making it worthy of being called the world's "cave treasure house." In particular, the thousand-year-old ancient vines at the cave entrance can be called a masterpiece.
The Number One Scenic Spot of Southern Chu—Hengdong Xiyan Immortal Cave
Xiyan Immortal Cave is located near Phoenix Peak, one of the 72 peaks of Mount Heng, that is, at the foot of Jinjue Peak in Yuxing Township, Hengdong County. The Hengshan County Gazetteer records: in the Tang Dynasty it was granted the title "Jinjue," hence the mountain is named Jinjue and the rock is Xiyan. This is a large karst cave integrating natural and cultural landscapes. Its accessible length is 2,160 meters, its area is more than 100,000 square meters, and it has dozens of large and small cave halls. The cave is deep and unfathomable, like a maze, with grotesque rocks standing in a thousand postures. Stalactites, stone forests, stone columns, and stalagmites are countless. Inside are dozens of places with inscriptions and calligraphy left by famous people of past dynasties. To this day, dozens of poems and fu by the famous Jin Dynasty landscape poet Xie Lingyun and others remain, with the fragrance of ink and endless charm.
"A Wonder of Furong"—Xinning Fengshen Cave
Fengshen Cave is the legendary place where the Wind God took refuge and attained the Way and was enfeoffed as a deity. It is located in the suburbs of Huilongsi Town, Xinning County, and is a major supporting scenic area of the Langshan Scenic and Historic Area. The cave is more than 2,000 meters long in total, with more than a thousand mu of water surface inside, and it connects with four wondrous caves not yet developed. Inside the cave are four great halls: the Sermon Hall, the Heart-Nourishing Hall, the Purple Void Hall, and the Deity-Conferring Hall, as well as the mysterious "Flying Waterfall," "Divine Wind," the soaring "Yellow Dragon" riding the clouds and mist, and the "One-Line Sky within the Cave." Everywhere is soul-stirring. National cave expert Yu Jinbiao specially inscribed for it the words "A Wonder of Furong," saying it can rival the world-famous Guizhou Dragon Palace.
Southern China's Largest Grotto Cluster—Zhangjiajie Jade Emperor Grottoes
The Jade Emperor Grottoes are located at the southern foot of Makong Mountain, seven kilometers west of Zhangjiajie City, Hunan Province. They were funded and built solely by the Qing Dynasty local gentry Li Jingkai. The entire grotto complex is more than 300 meters long from east to west, with a total of 8 caves divided into upper, middle, and lower levels. There are 10 statues and more than 50 stone carvings. It is the largest grotto cluster in Hunan Province and even southern China that has been preserved most completely to this day, and it is a key cultural relic protection unit of Hunan Province.