The Marvelous Underground Caves of Sangzhi
Twenty-one years ago, in Lifuta Township of Sangzhi County in western Hunan, a man named Wang Hairan lowered himself on a nylon rope over 100 meters long into a deep, dark, mysterious sinkhole to explore. Three days later, this man—said to have explored more than 360 caves—declared that he had discovered a wondrous underground labyrinth surpassing all the caves in the world.
This article is compiled from the original travel notes on the "Zhangjiajie Tour Guide Network" (33519.com); it is a record of trips from earlier years. Time-sensitive information such as ticket prices, schedules, and accommodation prices is subject to the latest announcements from scenic areas and transportation authorities; the itinerary ideas and attraction introductions still have reference value.
Twenty-one years ago, in Lifuta Township, Sangzhi County, Xiangxi, a man named Wang Hairan used a nylon rope over 100 meters long to lower himself into a deep, dark, and mysterious sinkhole for exploration. Three days later, this man, who was said to have explored over 360 caves, declared: he had discovered a wondrous underground labyrinth, surpassing all the karst caves in the world...
Afterwards, the county tourism bureau sent people to conduct on-site exploration for over half a month, confirming that the cave's total area reached over 2.6 million square meters. This karst cave is divided into upper, middle, and lower levels, with one great hall (capable of holding tens of thousands of people), two jade pools, three dragon wells, three underground rivers, five natural bridges, six peaks, seven small lakes, eight thousand-field terraces, nine skylights, ten waterfalls, thirty-six three-dimensional halls, and over a hundred scenic spots and landscapes. It was named Jiutian Cave by the county. Subsequently, dozens of news media including People's Daily reported on it. In late September 1989, 15 cave experts from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Belgium conducted a comprehensive survey in Jiutian Cave for seven consecutive days and nights. They unanimously agreed that the cave not only has high tourism value but also high scientific research value.
Twenty years later today, Jiutian Cave has long been developed into another tourist hotspot within the Zhangjiajie scenic area. However, on the over 4,000 square kilometers of land in Sangzhi County, it is unknown how many underground karst caves like Jiutian Cave are distributed! For example, in Chajiao Creek, the northern source of the Lishui River in Sangzhi, there is a karst cave with an underground river that directly connects to Maoba Township in Hefeng, Hubei, a distance of seven or eight kilometers; in Sangzhi Hekou Township, the middle source of the Lishui River, there is also a karst cave that directly connects to the Wuya River in Longshan County, with the cave extending five or six kilometers. In the Badagongshan area at the junction of Sangzhi, Hefeng, and Xuan'en counties, there is a semicircular karst cave with an entrance four stories high, and the interior is as spacious as a huge square. The cave extends over 10 kilometers, and the walls are home to thousands of rock swallows that fly back and forth in flocks. The rock swallow droppings on the ground are over a chi thick, and walking on them feels like stepping on a sponge. Because sounds made in the cave echo from the walls like beating gongs and drums, locals call it Luoguquan Cave. In a hillside karst cave in Furongqiao Township, dinosaur fossils were excavated in the 1970s and later named 'Furong Dragon' by the Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, which caused a sensation at the time.
How many karst caves are there in Sangzhi County? According to conservative estimates by geological researchers, there are about a thousand large and small ones. These caves generally have uniquely shaped stalactites, some like bamboo shoots, pillars, halls, and temples; some like dragons and tigers, crows and eagles; some like fairies and generals; some like pagodas and pavilions; some like old trees with tangled roots and ancient vines; some like waterfalls cascading and rushing streams... Some caves also contain rare medicinal herbs not seen on the surface, such as bamboo-leaf ginseng, yizhixue, and toushenhan, as well as animals like pythons, bats, rock swallows, and geckos.
There are also many stories and legends related to these caves. In the early 1930s, when He Long led the Red Army in revolutionary activities in Sangzhi, he once encountered an enemy encirclement and suppression. He Long hid in a cave in Guluoshan Township to escape a disaster. He Long's sister, He Ying, also long held out in caves to deal with the enemy, and ultimately sacrificed herself in a mountain village in Hefeng County near Sangzhi.
Sangzhi's underground karst caves are endlessly wonderful, and many cave landscapes in the county that have not yet been discovered are waiting for brave adventurers to explore and develop.