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Written by Grace
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Monday, 22 June 2009 04:23 |
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On our second day in Kunming, we traveled 90km to the east. The highlight of today is none other than the Jiuxiang Cave.
What is the meaning of 'Jiuxiang'? There are two versions to its name. When pronounced in Mandarin, it could sound like 'Nine Villages' or 'Fragrance Wine' (whereby the local minority likes to drink rice wine).
Jiuxiang has over 100 caves in total, making it the biggest cave clusters in China. These cave clusters are listed as one of China’s national-level key scenic areas.
I was really excited because we have heard about the beauty of Jiuxiang and can’t wait to explore it. Our guide told us we would need to spend at least 3 hours as the whole place is actually very huge. However we would only be visiting Jiuxiang Diehong Bridge Scenic Site. There are four other sites, but these are yet to be developed, hence it is not open to public (as of May 2009).
The Diehongqiao (Overlapping Bridge) scenic spot is about 3.8 km long, so today our leg would be put on test again! Our plan was to cover following 10 major scenes below:
The Yincui Gorge, The Soul-Stirring Gorge, The Ancient River meandering through the cave, The Lion Hall, The Goddess Palace, The Twin Waterfalls, The Fairy's Paddy Fields (Magic Fields), The Bat Cave, The Up-Side-Down Underground Stone Forest before descending via the Tourist Cableway. It is an open air chair lift that put me on adrenaline rush!
To get down to Yincui Gorge, we first took a sight-seeing elevator. There, a short river cruise provided us with brief glimpse over the limestone formation and beautiful rocks. We then proceed to Soul-Stirring Gorge, where our walking expedition officially starts!
I almost feel my soul-stirred as I entered, as if I have just been given a jab boost of energy. There are two sides of gorge, almost hugging each other and concrete bridge in the center.
As you look down, you could see clear beautiful stream flowing smoothly. I began hearing others crying 'wow' and 'amazing'. As we went along further, temperature is getting cooler; we are told that temperature inside the cave average only 20-21 degree Celsius. Variety of lighting colors used, just like rainbow to enhance the beauty of the cave.
After about 1 km walk, we arrived at the Lion Hall. There were a few exhibits about Jiuxiang cave being displayed here.
Looking up from the spacious hall, you could see a big rock amidst the lush greenery resembling a lion’s head. If you look in detail, it appears as if the sitting lion was gazing out, admiring the beauty of the tall gorges out there.
We rested for a short while before resuming our journey to the Goddess Palace. Catch the beauty of nature in Jiuxiang Cave and second half of the scenic sites in Part 2. Stay tuned!
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Kunming Top Attraction | Jiuxiang Cave | Diehong Bridge Scenic Area - Part 1
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