皇帝洞

Huangdi Dong - Emperor's Cave

Useful Information

Location:	Bawang Mountain National Nature Reserve, Wangxia Township, Changjiang Li Autonomous County, Hainan Island. Located at the road between (18.961762, 109.139493)
Open:	No restrictions. [2023]
Fee:	free. [2023]
Classification:	Karst cave
Light:	bring torch
Dimension:	L=130 m, W=60 m, H=25 m.
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Emperor's Cave, Bawang Mountain National Nature Reserve, Wangxia Township, Changjiang Li Autonomous County, Hainan Island.
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History

1980	Bawang Mountain National Nature Reserve created.

Description

皇帝洞 (Huangdi Dong, Emperor's Cave) is named after Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi (259–210 B.C.), the first Qin Emperor. He is also called the Yellow Emperor or the Yellow Thearch. He is partly mythical, as he is a mythical Chinese sovereign and cultural hero, one of the legendary Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. In other words, it is actually unknown if he ever existed. So the cave actually has no connection to this most likely mythical emperor, except a formation which resembles an emperor sitting on a throne, with a guard on each side.

The cave is a huge portal with a huge chamber or passage behind. The portal is asymmetric, the chamber behind not, the floor is mostly level. This cave is very easy to visit, the portal can be seen from the road, there is a short trail to the entrance, and inside the floor is flat. At the far end, there is a staircase leading up to a karstfenster, a collapsed section of the ceiling. Outside there is an outlook with a nice view of the valley. The cave has exceptional speleothems, despite the fact that it is freely accessible. So far, its remote location and the fact that visitors have to drive for hours on a wining road, have protected the cave. But the island does its best to develop tourism and so the numbers increase. We recommend bringing a torch, though it is actually not necessary. The cave is famous for Neolithic remains, which were excavated here.

Huangdi Cave is located in Bawang Mountain National Nature Reserve. It is one of the most popular Bawang Mountain National Nature Reserve. The location is quite remote though, a long drive on narrow winding roads. The road crosses the river at the confluence of the Nanjiao and the Hongshui River. Follow the road south for about 1.7 km to the cave entrance. There is no car park, but this road has very low traffic, just make sure you do not block traffic when parking along the road. This road was built for the construction of the Daguang Dam, and ends at the hydroelectric power station.