Located in Bijie District west of Guizhou Province, Zhijin Cave Scenic Spot is the most imposing natural cave with spectacular karst formations and abundant deposits among the other three, Zhijin Old Town, Jiehe Gorge and Hongjia Ferry.
Zhijin Cave gathers all sorts of the dissimilar karst formations, and all of them vividly present their uniqueness. Honored 'King of All Caves', Zhijin Cave is enormously large with fantastic views. Different forms and types of karst caves that may be existent in the world can be found here. The unusual stones in the crystalline palace are a rare sight and some of the formations still remain a mystery to scientists.
The beauty of Zhijin Cave lies in its grand scale and remarkable majesty. The mouth of the cave is halfway up the hill. It is around 15 meters (49 feet) in height and 20 meters (22 yards) in width. Outside the plain-looking mouth is an expansive burial. The cave that deserves exploitative value is of 12.1 kilometers (7.5 miles) long composed of five sub caves with four floors. The coverage reaches up to 700,000 square meters (173 acres).
This palatial underground palace boasts 12 big halls and 47 small halls, among which the largest hall is about 70,000 square meters (17.3 acres) in area equaling 10 football fields. The hall is considerably high averaging about 60 - 100 meters (197 - 328 feet). The topmost point is approximately 150 meters (492 feet) - corresponding to the building with 50 storeys. The broad hall offers fantastic view, part of it is flat as the field, part of it stands several peaks, in which the lakes and brooks gurgling on.
There collect abundant treasures in the large-scale Zhijin Cave. It is compared to the treasure house God kept curios exclusively by the cavern explorers. More than 40 sediments like stalactite, stalagmite, stone pagoda, stone flowers and what have you are buried here, and anything you see is the quintessence of nature. Included are the two famous stalagmites 'Yinyu Tree' and 'Bawang Helmet', which are not only the rarity of Zhijin Cave but rarely seen in the other caves throughout the world.
Yinyu Tree is actually the petal-like stalagmite that keeps growing. Each petal is the ivory translucent crystal exquisitely wrought, and then all petals form a 17-meter (55.8 feet) high ivory tree. It is standing in the natural white jade plate with two meters in diameter looking matchless and beautiful. The appraisal is that the bizarre tree is in the present appearance and height upon 150,000 years growing, hence the national treasure of our country.
Bawang Helmet echoing the Yinyu Tree on the other side is a helmet-shaped strong stalagmite. On the top project two parallel stone columns - caplike stalagmites giving birth to column-shaped stalagmite, whose posture is very much like the warrior's helmet with tassels.
The boundless scenery and full of rarities put Zhijin Cave in worldwide publicity. Every visitor can't help bursting out their admiring sound. The underground treasure house keeps the precious relics formed in the long evolution of the earth in good preservation. Many of them are still waiting to be exploited and researched in the future.
Tip:
You'd better get up early to catch the buses, for it takes about 3 - 4 hours to Zhijin Cave either from Anshun or from Guiyang.
Entrance Fee: CNY 120
Transportation:
A. From Anshun: Zhijin Cave is far from Anshun City, so visitors need to take the long-distance buses from Anshun to Zhijin County, and then take a mini bus or taxi to Zhijin Cave;
B. From Guiyang: Take the Tourism Bus of Zhijin Cave One Day Trip at Guiyang Visitors Transportation Station which is located at No. 278, Beijing Road, Yunyan District of Guiyang City.
