鴛鴦洞

Yuanyang Cave

Useful Information

Location:	Yuanyang Scenic Area, Fengshan County, Hechi City. (24.542278, 107.062964)
Open:	All year daily 9-17. [2025]
Fee:	Adults CNY 78, Children (<1.2 m, 0-17) CNY 44, Students CNY 44, Seniors (65+) CNY 44. [2025]
Classification:	Karst Cave Caves With The Tallest Stalagmite
Light:	Incandescent Coloured Light
Dimension:	L=260 m, W=45-13 m, H=7-56 m, Ar=25,200 m², A=600 m asl.
Guided tours:	L=1,200 m, D=1 h.
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address:	Yuanyang Cave, Fengshan County, Hechi City, Tel: +86-18507880033.
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

鴛鴦洞 (Yuānyāng dòng, Mandarin Duck Cave) is located rather close to the two karst springs which are also known under this name. Yuan stands for male and yang for female mandarin ducks, such a pair of mandarin ducks is a symbol for fidelity. However, the cave is not in the valley where the springs are located. And actually there is no explanation why it was named after those springs. However, both are part of the 4A Yuanyang Scenic Area. It is located on the northern slopes of Phoenix Mountain, at the old road to the east. The entrance offers a great view on the valley below and the springs. There are a lot of construction works going on, and we guess the huge park like structure at the valley floor near the spring will become the parking lot, the ticket office and probably a museum. Visitors can then visit the springs by foot and take a shuttle to the cave entrance. This makes sense as the cave entrance is located at the steep slope and parking space is limited.

The cave has a big portal which is 12 m wide and 7 m high. This is quite spectacular, but actually tiny in comparison to the other caves in the area. Inside is a huge chamber or main passage which is 480 m long, 320 m wide, and 52 m high. The floor is covered with stalagmites of enormous size. The tallest stalagmite is 36.4 m high, and of course it’s the 3rd highest in the world. A circular trail with a total length of 1,200 m winds its way through a forest of stalagmites, the small ones are about 6 m high, and there are 15 stalagmites which are more than 20 meters tall. While the "3rd largest" babble is nonsense, the huge number of such enormous stalagmites is quite spectacular.