Longgong Caves

The vast cave network snakes through twenty hills just 17 miles (27 km) SW of Anshun and 100 km (62 miles) SW of Guiyang. Dragon Castle and Tianchi Lake, the Underground River Karst Cave is 15 km long and is the longest water Karst cave in China; Dragon Gate Flying Waterfall - is the biggest waterfall inside a Karst cave in China. This is a mountain lake that is about 90 meters above the river bed below. The large lake was formed when water from the above cave broke an opening at the bottom thus creating a lake below. You can actually see the water rushing in and making a deafening noise.;
Despite the elaborateness of the Longgong park site, it represents only a small portion of the ninety or more caves in this network. However, like the Huangguoshu Falls area nearby, this region continues to be aggressively developed for tourism – and signs regularly appear pointing the way to modest new ‘scenic sights’ within the Longgong area. Only six caves, all connected by an underground river covering 854 m (2,800 ft), are open to exploration, accessed by boat through the flooded entrance, Tian Chi (Heaven’s Pool), which is partially concealed by a 40-m (130-ft) high waterfall. Inside, the largest cavern is about 80-m (260-ft) high. The caves are filled with colorfully-lit stalactites and stalagmites, and numerous oddly-shaped rock formations. During the rainy season, the boat ride ends at Tiger Lair, a broad platform from where visitors hike out of the caves and walk back to the entrance through an attractive stone forest of weathered karst spikes. The cave is visited by taking a boat tour through the cave but on the far side you have the option to get off and walk to the dry Tiger Cave. The mountain lake runs down to the river below in an impressive waterfall.;
Most other sights here will be anticlimactic after the Dragon’s Cave and many people continue on to Huangguoshu Falls after finishing their boat tour. But if you want to linger, you can follow footpaths to some of the more modest caves or continue on to Guanyin Cave (观音洞), the second biggest attraction in the park, about 3km away.;
To visit, you have to take a guided (Chinese-only) tour on one of the small boats, which lasts about 40 minutes (though in summer the flood of Chinese tour groups causes a watery gridlock that can draw this out substantially). There are three jetties inside the caves, and you need to change boats inside the caves in order to complete the whole journey. Life jackets are provided but choose carefully as some can be a bit dirty and smelly.;
The guides give a little geological background on the caves, but mostly they just point out the various karst formations with their flashlights and let everyone play ‘What does it look like?’. The recorded music and coloured spotlights here can feel a bit over the top at times, but most travellers enjoy drifting through the caves anyway. When busy it can feel very rushed with little time to appreciate the beauty of the caves. It is like a tourist production line. The boat guide uses a green laser to point to interesting features within the cave for half a second and spits out its name but you couldn't see anything because it is all too fast.;
Walking into another cave is quite challenging for older visitors as it is dark and wet in some places, and it is necessary to walk 6 floors down and 6 floors up steps along narrow limestone walls, but mostly the steps are low riser-types and there are sturdy handrails. Taking a lift to avoid climbing a staircase 10 stories high costs ¥25 one way. There is also a flying fox option for younger more adventurous visitors.;
At the end of the walk, there is the choice of taking a tourist bus for ¥20 or walking another 7 km to get back to the starting point or entry. Entrance fee for seniors is only ¥5. Hiring a tourist guide for a group is ¥150;
There are a few small restaurants serving farmers’ or villagers’ meals but at distinctly tourist prices.
Not far away from the exit of the caves, there is a piece of grassland with a large Chinese character "dragon" and there you can take beautiful photo shots.