太乙洞

Taiyi Cave

Useful Information

Location:	Xian'An, Xianning, Hubei 437000. South of Xianning, G351 then S319. (29.782672, 114.304395)
Open:	All year daily 8:30-17. [2025]
Fee:
Classification:	Karst Cave
Light:	Incandescent Coloured Light
Dimension:
Guided tours:	D=1 h.
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address:	Taiyi Cave, Xian'An, Xianning, Hubei 437000, Tel: +86-715-833-6071.
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History

Description

太乙洞 (Tài yǐ dòng, Taiyi Cave) has a quite specatacular entrance, the ticket office is a huge pagoda which was built of rock, the actual cave entrance also. Most such pagodas are actually temples and are normally built of wood. The cave has a rather old light system which has numerous white bulbs, which allows seeing the real color of speleothems and cave walls. This makes this rather small cave quite enjoyable, compared with the kitschy 4A Scenic Areas. It is a smaller show cave, not intended for international tourism and not advertised. It is visited by domestic tourists, and normally it is not crowded, another bonus for an enjoyable visit.

The cave was named after the Taoist Taiyi, who, according to legend, dug it to provide water to the local people. One of the stalagmites was named Taoist Taiyi Statue for his honor. The cave is 2,000 m long and has a huge chamber which is big enough for 10,000 people. National Tourism Bureau Director Liu Yi and famous Chinese calligrapher Zhao Puchu have written inscriptions inside the cave.