Zhijin Cave [Bijie]

"One of Top Six Most Beautiful Show Caves in China"
Ranked by China National Geoegraphy Magazin

Zhijin Cave in Zhijin County, Bijie City of Guizhou Province: Kingdom of Caves

The cave is situated in the Bijie Prefecture of Guizhou Province, between the Liuchong and Sancha Rivers, both of them sources of the Wujiang River.

The Zhijin Cave is dry cave that lost its subterranean river long, long ago. About 1.2 million years ago, the Zhijin Cave collapsed because of corrosion, erosion, scouring, seepage, and changes of flow volumes, eventually forming huge chambers. About 250,000 years ago, surface water no longer infiltrated into the cave and it became a dry cave, and gradually calcium carbonate speleothems began to take shape.

The first thing about the beauty of the Zhijin Cave is its colossal volume. Its entrance sits half way up a mountainside in the northeast of Zhijin County; it is about 15 meters high, 20 meters wide, shaped like a tiger’s mouth. Its confirmed length is 12.1 kilometers, consisting of four levels and five subsidiary caves, with a total floor area of 700,000 square meters. Its height normally ranges between 60 and 100 meters, but at its highest point of about 150 meters. There are five over 10,000 square meters in area; the biggest is called Shiwan Dashan which is about 70,000 square meters in area, but it is not open to tourist yet.

Zhijin Cave is not only large in scale but also rich in variety. The space formed by the roof and walls of the cave is sometimes conical, at other points arched, oblong, or square. The 6.6 kilometers route open to visitors is in some parts deep and serene. Other times it is lively and simple, as high as the night sky, or so low you could touch its roof; at times it is as wide as a boundless plain, at others as narrow as a valley path, as large as the firmament, as close as a canopy, as steep as a cliff or as flat as a field.

The Zhijin Cave is like God’s treasure house for keeping the world’s most beautiful natural scenery. It has over than 40 kinds of speleothems, among them stalagmites, stelae, stone 'pagodas,' 'drums' 'shields,' 'flowers,' and 'beds,' The Zhijin Cave stalagmites come in a great variety of amazing shapes, frozen mushrooms, flower petals, pinecones, pointed pagodas and helmets for example. The jewels in the crown are its two unique stalagmites, the Silvery-rain Tree and the Overlord’s Helmet.

Best time to go
Anytime
In cave its annual average temperature is 42.8F—46.4F.

Ticket
RMB 120/person

Around Landscape
Shexiang Tomb, Datun Tusi (headman) Mansion, etc.

Local Snacks and Specialties
Bijie Bitter Qiaoba, Bijie Dried Bean-curd, Bijie Hetao, Bijie Tangyuan, Bijie Garlic, Bijie Marble Craftworks, Root-carving Craftworks and Lacquer, etc.

Travel Tips
Zhijin County is impoverishment now so buy and take some foods before you go to Zhijin Cave.
Pull on enough clothes and keep warm because it is very cold and the air is rare in Zhijin Cave.
The road is wet and slippery so notice the step.
March and April the flower is blooming everywhere.

Distance
Beijing (2536 km) Guiyang City (156 km) Zhijin County (23 km) Zhijin Cave