Travel Tips: Recommended time for a visit: 1 day.
Attractions:
Jiuxiang which is famous for its magnificent caves, waterfalls and beautiful landscape. It is Jiuxiang’s biggest cave cluster in China.
乘缆车游览九乡溶洞。这是个以溶洞为主、集自然风光、卡斯特地貌，人文景观以及民族风情为一体的旅游景点。它拥有上千座大小溶洞，为国内规模最大、数量最多，溶洞景观最奇特的洞穴群落体系。
Opening Hour: 09:00-18:00Admission Fee: CNY90, CNY30 for one-way cableway.
How to get there:
Jiuxiang Yi and Hui Autonomous Township of Yiliang County 90 km away from Kunming, Yunnan Province.
- take a minibus from Kunming bus station to Yiliang County and then take a minibus to Jiuxiang.
- take a bus at the square in the front of Kunming Railway Station directly to Jiuxiang Scenic Area.
Best Travel Season: Summer
Map:
Tour Map of JiuXiang 九乡风景区導𨘋图
Brief Introduction
: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 encompassed by karst caves, deep valleys, and Yi ethnic minority’s cultural landscapes. 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". Juxiang Scenic Area consists of five scenic spots: Diehong Bridge, Sanjiao Cave, Dasha Dam, Alulong and Mingyue Lake. Only the Diehong Bridge Scenic Spot is open to public now. Diehong Bridge itself includes nine major scenic spots: the Green Shady Valley, Grand Underground Valley, the Lying Dragon Cave, the Goddess Cave, the Fairy Fields, the Lion Hall, the Bat Cave, Yi Ethnic Group Village and the Sightseeing Cableway.
九鄉溶洞群堪稱世界奇觀，其形成的機理就是由於強烈的喀斯特作用。在這裡，巨大的洞室、洞穴系統是地表水利地下水溶解碳酸鹽岩的結果，而洞穴中堆積的色彩斑斕的鈣華堆積，則是地下水中碳酸鈣沉澱堆積的結晶。
1984 年，當一個由地質學家和風景園林專家組成規考察小組來到九鄉考察時，發現這裡隱藏著世界上最偉大的溶洞群之一。從此，九鄉不僅為世界地質界所關注，也成了 旅遊熱點。九鄉周圍分佈有大面積的碳酸鹽岩地層，這些地層的形成時期大約是在6億午前的震旦紀。碳酸鹽舍分佈在九鄉麥田河兩豐，面積約為100平方千米。 由於新生代(距今6500萬年)以來，雲南高原隨青藏高原的隆起而不斷地被拾升，南盤江溯源侵蝕將滇東高原切割，形成了南盤江峽谷。南盤江的一級支梳麥囚 河深切，切過九鄉的地域。在強大的地太水流和地下水流聯合作用之下，形成九鄉奇異、雄渾、壯觀的喀斯特洞穴群和九鄉蔭翠峽。在地殼間歇式的抬升運動中，九 鄉地貌演化大成了多層喀斯特洞穴的演化過程，造就了它巨大、奇特的溶洞系統。
Photo:
Grand Underground (Jinghun) Valley
The Grand Underground Valley is the most spectacular underground valley in china with a length of 100 meters. Continuous declination of riverbed formed the Grand Underground Valley, the narrowest part of which is only 3or 4 meters. The roaring sound from the valley is caused by river water striking the huge rocks, a magnificent spectacle. People can go along the valley by a trestle. Walking on the trestle is really a thrilling experience. At the end of the trestle is the White Elephant Cave formed by water erosion.
Three Dimensional Model of Gorges and Caves of Jiuxiang
Video:
Green Shady (Yincui) Gorge 蔭翠峽
The Green Shady Valley is quiet and charming with a length of 600 meters. As the river on the valley bottom is nearly wholly shaded by dense green trees, hence the name. Taking a boat on the river, you will see verdant cliffs, green water and fish playing in water and narrow blue sky. The green shady valley is also named Valentine’s Valley. Legend says that young men and women of Yi ethnic group will gather here to look for lovers by singing songs. It is really a nice place to relax.
Fairy Vale 聚仙谷
Grand Lion (Xiongshi) Hall 雄狮大廳
The Lion Hall is a vast cave formed by stalactites covering an area of 15000 square meters which can hold thousands of people.
Lying Dragon (Wolong) Cave
The Lying Dragon Cave is featured by the Twin Waterfalls. Once entering the cave, your attention will soon drawn by two silver waterfalls. Twin waterfalls pour down from 30- meter-high cliffs in parallel creating splashing water and deafening sound, a gorgeous scene. In rainy season, twin waterfalls fuse together, making it hard to tell which is which.
Fairy Palace 神女宫
The Goddess Cave looks like a crystal palace with crystal stalactites. It is the typical landscape of karst landform. Stalactites sitting or lying here and there just look like a crowd of fairies who are singing and dancing, like a fairy land.
The Fairy Field (Shentian)
The Fairy Field is a natural wonder resembling a terrace. Curbing Dams are scattered in graceful disorder with a total area of 100 square meters. And each dam has a depth of 10 meters. The unique karst landform is called curbing dams in geology and the smaller one curbing basin.
Yi Ethnic Group Village
It is an underground world displaying culture of Yi ethnic group. Mi Zhi Lin is a dense forest where men of Yi ethnic group worship the ancestors on festival day and women is forbidden to enter, which show the unique custom of ancient Yi ethnic group.
Legend says that there are ten thousand bats inhabited in the cave in the past, hence the name. Bats gradually moved away when the cave was developed into a tourist destination. The bat cave is famed as "Dangling Stone Forest Underground" with dangling stalactites.
Sightseeing Cableway Station 索道站
The sightseeing cableway stretches across mountains and valleys with a span of nearly 1000 meters. Visitors can enjoy landscapes of different seasons in several minutes via cableway.
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