琵琶洞

Pipadong

Useful Information

Location:	Pipa Cave, Beiaikou Village, Shuanghekou Town, Banan District, Chongqing. East of Chonquing city, motorway G5021 Shiyu Expy, Yanjiabacun exit, turn left 300 after toll, then follow new road to the cave. (29.571710, 106.938800)
Open:
Fee:
Classification:	Karst Cave Immortals
Light:	Incandescent Coloured Light
Dimension:	L=3,000 m.
Guided tours:
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address:	Pipadong, Pipa Cave, Beiaikou Village, Shuanghekou Town, Banan District, Chongqing, Tel: +86-.
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

Description

琵琶洞 (Pípá dòng, Pipa Cave) is named after the pipa, a traditional Chinese musical instrument with a pear-shaped wooden body and a varying number of frets ranging from 12 to 31. According to local lore, there are fairies in Pipa Cave, holding pipas and playing the sound of immortality. More famous that the fairies is the name Pipa Cave on Venom Mountain from the famous mythological novel Journey to the West by the Ming Dynasty novelist Wu Cheng'en. In this book it is the residence of the Scorpion Demoness.

蝎子精 (Xiezijing, Scorpion Demoness) was originally a scorpion the size of a pipa and had practiced for many years. She used a three-pronged steel fork, and could spit fire from her nose and smoke from her mouth. She had great magical powers and boundless magic. She used magic to sweep away Tang Sanzang and wanted to marry him. She was skilled in martial arts and repeatedly defeated Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie. Finally, Sun Wukong went to the Palace of Light and asked Maori Xingguan. The star god waited for Sun Wukong to lure out the demon and turned into a seven-foot-tall double-crown rooster. With one crow, the demon showed its true form. With two long crows, the demon died in front of the hill.

The cave is located on Yanglu Mountain in the northern part of Dongwenquan. This area is karstified and has numerous caves, but this is the only show cave in the area. This is actually the only Pipa Cave we know of in China despite the popularity of the book. But here emphasis is definitely on the fairy/immortal legend, there is a sculpture of a fairy playing a pipa on the square in front of the ticket office, as well as in the entrance hall of the cave. The town published a book with about 30 local legends of the Ba minority, which all refer to the Pipa Cave. And be aware that there are no fairies in the western sense, actually fairies are different types of Topic Immortals.

The cave is quite spacious and has numerous speleothems. There are three levels, the lowest level is an active river cave.

It seems this cave is not only lighted by coloured light, there ara also blinking and moving light, projections, and even holograms, all supported by music. So there are several stops which are a kitschy and overwhelming reinterpretation of the Ba legends.