玄素洞

Xuansu Cave

Useful Information

Location:	Xuansudongcun, Chibi, Xianning, Hubei 437321. (29.636240, 113.873230)
Open:	All year daily 8-17. [2025]
Fee:	Adults CNY 40. [2025]
Classification:	Karst Cave
Light:	Incandescent Coloured Light
Dimension:	T=20 ℃.
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Xuansu Cave, Xuansudongcun, Chibi, Xianning, Hubei 437321, Tel: +86-715-552-6898.
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

AUG-1997

Description

玄素洞 (Xuán sù dòng, Xuanshu Cave) was named after 玄素真人 (Xuán sù zhēnré, Xuan Su Zhenren). According to legend he practiced in the cave, and so it was named after him. Xuansu Zhenren aka Tongxuan Tianshi was a Taoist figure, said to be the disciple of 太乙真人 (Taiyi Zhenren). It seems Zhenren is the title, something like "master", and the actual name is received with the title. It’s also possible to translate Xuansu, it means actually "Mysterious White". The "official" english translation of the cave name at the entrance is Xuansu Hole. The cave has been visited by people since the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty and there are numerous historic inscriptions inside. It was formerly known as 荆泉洞 (Jīng quán dòng, Jingquan Cave).

The cave is located south of Chibi city in the village Xuansudongcun, obviously named after the cave. As always there is a 玄素洞風景區 (Xuán sù dòng fēngjǐng qū, Xuansu Cave Scenic Area), this time with an AAA rating. In other words it’s an almost normal show cave intended for domestic tourism, as a result there is not much explanation in English. If you want to visit, it is advisable to have a local guide who translates the most important stuff. The coloured light is quite annoying, but actually here a few speleothems can be seen in almost natural colours, an error which will probably be corrected soon, unfortunately. The cave is located in Xuefeng Mountain, the ticket office is at the road, from here it’s a short hike on a paved trail uphill through a bamboo forest to the cave entrance.

The entrance is rather small and closed by thick wooden beams except for a normal size door. The first chamber is quite spacious, 100 m long and 15 m high. There is one chamber which has a sort of artwork, a circular ying and yang symbol which was built up a slope and is surrounded by a circular staircase. It is quite spectacular, quite colourful, kitschy, and a serious case of environmental degradation, together with the artificial lake and fountain right in front of it.