冰壶洞

Bīng hú dòng - Bing Hu Dong - Ice Pot Cave


Useful Information

Location: Shuanglong Cave Scenic Area, Luodian Town, Wucheng District, Jinhua, Zhejiang 321021.
(29.203488, 119.621526)
Open: JUL to AUG daily 8-17:10.
SEP to JUN daily 8:30-16:40.
[2022]
Fee:
Classification: SpeleologyKarst cave
Light: LightIncandescent Electric Light System LightColoured Light
Dimension: L=120, VR=70 m, A=580 m asl.
Guided tours: self guided
Photography: allowed
Accessibility: no
Bibliography:
Address: Bing Hu Dong.
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

1991 opened to the public.

Description

冰壶洞 (Bing Hu Dong, Curling Cave) is located near Shuanglong Dong, the main cave of the scenic area. It is a huge cave shaft or daylight shaft, with a slope of debris at the bottom. You may also call it a collapse doline. The cave is reached by walking through a park 200 m uphill, then through a 100-meter-long underground passage, to the ground of the doline. A trail with 260 steps leads up the steep slope and then up the doline and leaves the cave. As there are descriptions the other way round, we guess this self-guided cave tour may be made in both directions. The cave contains a cave river which forms numerous waterfalls.

This time the waterfalls have the long and cryptic names, just one example you should forget as soon as possible: 银河倒泻入冰壶,长有惊雷阵阵呼 (The Milky Way pours into a jug of ice, and a long thunderclap calls).

The chinese name 冰壶洞 (Bīng pù dòng) is even more difficult to translate than others. We found the translations Ice Pot Cave, Curling Cave, and Ice Kettle Cave. This does not make any sense, like so many other things in Chinese caves. For example this description: "small mouth, large belly and deep cave, with a flying waterfall inside, shaped like an ice pot". We hope the flying waterfall will not fly away.

This cave is best visited spring and autumn. Rainy summers will cause flooding and so the cave might be closed or quite wet. And in winter due to snow there is not much water in the cave river and there are no spectacular waterfalls to see. At least thats what they say. In our opinion this cave is quite spectacular, and you should visit it in any season.