Jiuxiang Caves

Chinese name: 九乡溶洞 (Jiu Xiang Rong Dong)  
Location: Jiuxiang Yi and Hui Autonomous Township, Yiliang County, Yunnan Province ( about 90 kilometers from Kunming)
Ticket: Entrance ticket CNY90.00, CNY30.00 optional one-way cableway
Estimated tour time: 3-5 hours
Recommended time to visit: All year round
Nearby attractions: Dianchi Lake, Western Hills & Dragon Gate, Stone Forest, Kunming Flower & Bird Market, etc. 

Located 47 kilometers from Yiliang County, 90 kilometers away from Kunming city, only 22 kilometers from the famous stone forest, Jiuxiang Scenic Area is a famous tourist destination in Yunnan Province. It is famous for its caves, mountains, rivers, deep valleys, minority customs and cultures. Jiuxiang Scenic Area has a cluster of karst caves within an area of 20 square kilometers, known as the most in number and the largest in scale in China. Together with the Stone Forest, Jiuxiang scenic area formed the three-dimensional karst landscape of "see Stone Forest on the ground and Jiuxiang caves underground".

Jiuxiang Scenic Spot is 20 sq km in area and includes 5 tourist attractions, Diehong Bridge (5 km southeast from Jiuxiang Street, famous for the karst caves, the twin waterfalls and the huge natural stone dam cluster), Dasha Dam (consisting of picturesque karst caves and thick forest), Sanjiao Cave (5 km north of Jiuxiang Street, famous for the karst caves), Alu Long (a scenic area 6 km west of Jiuxiang Street, famous for the excavated Yi Nationality cliff paintings of Qin and Han dynasties)and Mingyue (meaning the bright moon) Lake.

Jiuxiang is known as the "museum of karst caves", which boasts its caves as the largest in scale and number (there are about a hundred karst caves) and has the most wonderful in-cave scenes in China. The caves in Jiuxiang fall into 4 cave clusters: Sanjiao Cave, Dashang Cave, Diehong Cave and Dasha Dam Cave. 66 out of the numerous caves in the area are profitably exploitable and the karst cave cluster is the largest of its kind on Yunnan-Guizhou plateau. The caves in the area are praised for their grandeur, wonder grotesquerie and natural beauty.

Jiuxiang has over one hundred big and small karst caves with the largest scale and quantity and the most wonderful in-cave scenes in China. The caves in Jiuxiang fall into 4 cave clusters: Sanjiao Cave, Dashang Cave, Diehong Cave and Dasha Dam Cave. The caves in the area are praised for their grandeur, wonder grotesquerie and natural beauty. It has the biggest underground hall, Lion Hall, which can holds tens of thousands of people, the largest limestone lake group among all the developed cave spot – Fairy Field, and the most magnificent underground Canyon- Jinghun Gorge.

Jiuxiang, the birthplace of the aboriginal Yi ethnic people, has a strong minority custom color, a long cultural history, and widely spread old myths and tales. These include Hunting Festival, the Worship the White Dragon Festival, Love Song Contest, Bullfighting, Wrestling, Sanxian Dance (Sanxian is a three-stringed plucked instrument), Rattle Stick Dance and so on.