Yanwa Cave is located in Xiantang Township, Huishui County in southwestern China's Guizhou Province, 123 kilometers from Guiyang, the provincial capital.|
During my two years working in Huishui County, I visited Yanwa Cave three times, but each of these I went no further than the cave's opening. Then last May, I had the opportunity to accompany a women's exploration team, with members from Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Guizhou, to explore the depths of Yanwa Cave.
On May 9, we set off from Guizhou at 8:20, arriving at Minzhong Village in Sandu Township at 10:30. The 12-member exploration team, who ranged in age from 22 to 35, dressed themselves in camouflage clothing. At Minzhong, as a good gesture, they donated "ecological" bird cages to the villagers and then set out for their journey toward Yanwa Cave.
Marching into Yanwa Cave
Yanwa Cave is 3 kilometers from seat of the Xiantang Township government. The team members carried tents, sleeping bags, pots, food and other camping equipment on their backs, and marched toward Yanwa Cave. After about 40 Minutes, they arrived at the entrance to the cave. They left their luggage, put on lighting equipment, crossed the Qilong River by a bamboo raft, and started journey into Yanwa Cave.
The egg-shaped entrance is 140 meters high, and the cave three stories high. While the first story is a water cave, and the other two stories are dry. In spring and summer, hundreds of thousands of swifts dwell in the cave. At dawn and dusk, these swifts fly in and out looking for food. According to local farmers, because of these swifts, the farmlands around hundreds of square kilometers are seldom hit by insects, and the farmers need not use pesticide, so the grains produced here are pollution-free.
Entering the cave, the 30-meter section of cave is so low that people could not stand upright or walk bent over, they could only advance by crawling. But none of the 12 women retreated. We crawled inch by inch, becoming dirt-stained by the cave's interior. After a short break, we crept again until we entered an opening about 130 meters high, 80 meters wide and 1,400 meters long. After another section of narrow passage, we entered a bigger space, and here we saw white stalactites, stalagmites and stone curtains varied in shapes.
It took five hors for us to cover about eight kilometers in the cave, but still we did not reach the end. According to our guide. It would take two to three days to tour the cave, and we only covered less then a quarter of the course.
The 12 women explorers feared no hardships or difficulties. Wherever they went, they kept in mind the importance of maintaining environment and ecology. In the three-day exploration, they camped in the great outdoors had a great spelunking experience. Ms Li Qinglan from Hong Kong said, given the opportunity, and she would visit the cave again.
Yanwa Cave is 123 kilometers from Guiyang. Tourists can take a bus from Guiyang for Huishui, and change a bus from Huishui to Xiantang.
Yanwa Cave has been developed by the Shenqian Xincun Green Industrial Development Co., Ltd. Tourists who want to visit it can contact the company directly.
Contact persons: General Manager Qiao Huimin or Ms Rong Yan.