官马溶洞

Guanma Dong - Guan Ma Rong Dong - Guanma Cave

Useful Information

Location:	Cuyu Village, Yantongshan Town, Panshi City, Jilin City 128 km south of Jilin City, 30 km northeast of Panshi City. (43.135764, 126.098786)
Open:	All year daily 8:00-16:30. [2021]
Fee:
Classification:	Karst cave Upper Carboniferous Shizuizi Formation
Light:	Incandescent Electric Light System Coloured Light
Dimension:	L=490 m, VR=30 m, T=10 °C.
Guided tours:	L=200 m, VR=30 m.
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address:	Guanma Dong, Cuyu Village, Yantongshan Town, Panshi City, Jilin City, Tel: +86-432-659-355-88.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

2001	rated as AA scenic spot by the National Tourism Administration.

Description

官马溶洞 (Guanma Cave) has three different levels, the upper and middle level have been developed as a show cave. The tour shows five (or six?) chambers connected by passages, and the highest chamber is 30 m high. The first chamber is called Immortal Hall or probably better Hall of the Immortal, after the legend. This is not very nice, as the immortal is a stalagmite with a waist circumference of more than three meters who seems to sleep.

The second chamber, is famous for a flat stalagmite called Eternal Stone Turtle. During the Anti Japanese War, it was used by General Yang Jingyu to sit, when he was writing or holding secret military meetings here. When the cave was developed numerous remains from this time were found, for example a brush made of a cartridge case. Notable is an area of 30 m² which is covered by an abundance of cave coral, the calcite forms grape or cauliflower shaped bulbs. And the formation called 玉树琼花 (jade tree and jade flower) is covered by more cave coral and looks actually like a coral reef.

Turn right and enter the third hall, which has transparent calcite crystal called Milky Flowers. The group of spectacular thin stalagmites is named Tianfu Stone Forest.

The fourth chamber finally is the peak of fantastic names for formations in the cave. One stalagmite is called Optimus Prime and its almost identical neighbour Giant Headed Ape Man. A true highlight of nonsensical names.

The fifth chamber contains a cave river, two meters wide and three meters deep, named Shengshuixian River, which is very clear and used for boat rides. According to legend, washing hands and faces in the river brings good luck to visitors. We are not sure if it is actually allowed to wash in the cave river, but there are plastic boats, and it is definitely possible to make a boat ride.

A simple and honest farmer lived at the foot of Guanma mountain. He had a wife, a pair of children and an old grandfather. His family worked hard and had a very prosperous life. He not only loved his wife and children, but was also filial to the elderly, he was charitable and willing to help others. One day, the old grandfather got ill and couldn't get up, and his children feared for his life. This kind of filial piety moved the immortal in the cave. He took a dream of the farmer and told him to go up the mountain and get the spring water for his father, he would recover in three days. The farmers went into the cave to get spring water for his father, who actually got weel. As the news spread among the villagers, all went up to the mountain to get water. Because they were drinking the spring water from the cave, the people within a radius of 100 Li were very strong and seldom suffered from disease. From then on, people called the cave "Immortal Cave" and the spring water in the cave "Holy Water". As people came here in an endless stream every day, holding lanterns and torches to illuminate the cave, the ceiling of the cave became blackened.

This cave is definitely exceptional, and we were quite astonished to read the following fact: Guanma karst cave is a surface lava cave formed by volcanic eruption during the crustal movement about 100 million years ago. This is obviously the only karst cave of volcanic origin in the world. And we were quite happy to be informed that "cave is a lifelike natural wonder, just like the fairyland of Yaochi, which makes tourists forget to return". So beware, if you visit this cave you might vanish forever. The only warning signs are a stone plate at the entrance of the cave with the word 官马溶洞 (Guanma Cave) and the cave guides are called 仙湖指南 (Fairy Lake Guide).