天泉洞

Tianquan Cave

Useful Information

Location:	Xingdi Rd, Xingwen County, Yibin, Sichuan, China, 644419. Motorway G7512 筑蓉高速 Zhurong Expressway exit Duliangcun, tunr left on road S312 18 km. (28.1846218, 105.1487732)
Open:	All year daily 9-18. [2024]
Fee:	Cave: Adults CNY . Scenic Area: Adults CNY 140.
Classification:	Karst Cave Tiankeng
Light:	Incandescent Coloured Light
Dimension:	L=10,500 m.
Guided tours:	L=3 km, D=60 min. V=350,000/a [2000]
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address:	天泉洞, 四川省宜賓市興文縣北門路139號. Tianquan Cave, Xingdi Rd, Xingwen County, Yibin, Sichuan, China, 644419, Tel: +86-831-8622118, Tel: +86-831-8622078 Xingwen Geopark, No.26 Baiwanzhuang Road, Beijing, 100037, Tel: +86-10-68999619, Tel: +86-10-68999623. E-mail: E-mail: Shihaidong Township Scenic Area, Xingwen County, Yibin City, Sichuan Province.
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

1980	show cave opened to the public.
1992	international team of cavers discover 100 m gypsum flower corridor and the Chinese Border stone dam.
2002	declared a National Scenic Area with rating 4A.
2005	Xingwen Shihai UNESCO Global Geopark founded.

Description

天泉洞 (Tian Quan Dong, Sky Spring Cave) is generally called Tianquan Cave on most websites, we have no idea why the name is only partly translated. During the Anti-Japanese War the cave was used to store ammunition and other supplies. The cave has an enormous main passage, which is about 40 m wide and 35 m high. Due to the almost horizontal limestone layers, the ceiling is often a harder limestone layer, and thus almost flat. At other points it forms a cupola or a barrel vault. Those parts of the cave are a result of continual collapse, as a result speleothems have no tine to grow and the passage is almost devoid of any speleothems. But there are some sections were no collapse occurs, which are extremely well decorated.

From the road the cave is entered at the foot of a huge limestone cliff. Material breaking from the cliff has created a pile of debris in front of the entrance, so the trail leads up the top and back down to the floor inside the cave. The trail has serpentines and many steps, this hill is more than 40 m high. The cave is not a river cave, but there are sections which are flooded by a cave lake. At one point, a boat ride is offered, which costs a small additional fee. It’s also possible to walk this section, which has the advantage that you can choose your own speed.

The cave has a second opening about halfway with a diameter of about 20 m. It is quite spectacular around noon when the sunlight shines in almost vertical.

Then the trail follows the main passage for more than 1.2 km to a place where the passage has collapsed. It forms a huge doline which is 650 m long, more than 490 m wide and 208 m deep. So this is definitely a tiankeng, it is considered the type locale of the term tiankeng, as the site is called tinkeng (large doline) by the locals. It is one of the highlights of this cave to see such an enormous doline from inside.

Tianquan Cave is a scenic spot of the Xingwen Shihai Geopark, which is a UNESCO Global Geopark. The center of the geopark is further down road S312 at the southern rim of the karst. Here is the 兴文世界地质公园博物馆 (Xingwen World Geological Park Museum) which is definitely worth a visit. With three levels and an exhibition space of 3,500 m² it explains the geological background as well as how the three main sites, tiankeng, stone forest and cave were formed. We actually recommend visiting the museum first, because it explains a lot you can later see in the show cave, and which is not explained there. Various trails lead to rock formations of the Lunan Stone Forest, like the 夫妻峰 (Lover Rock) and other karst pinnacles. The trail also leads to the rim of the tiankeng.

The cave is sometimes wrongly listed as 石海洞 (Shihaidong, Stone Sea Cave). This is actually the name of the Shihai Dongxiang Scenic Area which literally means Stone Sea and Land of Caves. It is also the name of the small township. GeoPark and scenic are not the same, and they definitely do not cover the same area, but they overlap massively, and are often mixed up.