Taishan Cave - Adventure and Joy
During the childhood stage in Dalian Taishan, my friends and I often went to Shan for fun. Shan was very close to Taishan Street, and when we reached the foot of the mountain, it took us at least twenty or thirty minutes.
The Dalian Elementary School oil depot is located at the foot of Shan, opposite the school. It is a very large area. After passing the oil depot, there is a shallow valley halfway up the hill. There is a cave through Shan in that valley. We don't know when this cave was dug, but we guessed that it might have been a military facility. The north entrance of the cave is in the middle of the hill, and there is a very flat ground with a size of half a football field at the cave entrance. The edge of this ground slopes steeply for more than 100 meters downwards, and all the grey and white rubble is piled up, which looks like a grey and white waterfall. This must have been the rubble dug out of the cave when it was carved.
These wild children were very interested in the cave and always wanted to explore the secrets inside. So, we went to the cave together. From the north entrance, we went in, and from the south entrance, we came out, and then we walked back through the cave. We went in and out many times, but we never found anything inside, but we never gave up, and we still explored the cave. Later, exploring the cave became our adventure game.
Before going into the cave, we would bring some old oil paper and wrap it around wooden sticks with iron wire to make a fire for lighting. We need more than ten fire lights for a single cave exploration, some of which are used when we go in, and the other fire lights are used when we come back.
After preparing, we would gather at the foot of the mountain and head to the cave entrance. After counting the number of people, we would take a deep breath and dry the sweat on our bodies. It's very cold in the cave, and if you go in with sweat, you'll get sick.
Every time we led the way to the cave entrance was the small dog from the front street, and everyone sometimes called him 'Commander.' We don't know why his parents gave him the name 'small dog.' Maybe they were superstitious and feared that their son couldn't be raised well, so they gave him a derogatory name. However, this small dog turned out to be the 'King' of Taishan Street, often leading half-grown children to fight with children from West Street. The situation of children fighting with each other frequently occurred. At that time, children rarely had parents intervening to mediate the dispute, and they usually didn't care.
When we entered the cave, we found that the cave was very wide, and we had to hold hands to touch the cave walls. The height of the cave was more than two meters, which was very high for us children. The walls of the cave had lighting wires, and a light head was not far away. When we first entered the cave, the road inside could be clearly seen, and we could use the light from the outside of the cave to walk in. After walking for twenty or so meters, the cave would become completely dark, and we couldn't see five fingers. When the cave was dark, we would take out the fire lights we had strapped to our waists and light them up. The 'Commander' dog would take one fire light, and the last person would take one fire light, with three fire lights to clearly see the cave exploration team and to see the situation on both walls of the cave. It's very cold in the cave, and the wind is very strong. The burning fire lights produce a lot of black smoke and drift backwards, and the fire lights keep dripping and burning oil. If you accidentally drip oil on your body, you can only hold the fire light diagonally to prevent it from burning your skin. Using the light of the fire lights, we can see that the walls of the cave are covered with cement, the cave walls are smooth, the ground is flat, and there are rooms every few meters on the side walls, with rooms that are ten square meters or larger, which must have taken a lot of effort to dig the cave.
I have lived in Dalian Taishan for ten years and never heard the sounds of opening and blasting the cave. It's estimated that the cave was built before liberation.
We don't know how long the cave is, and we need to change two or three fire lights during the cave exploration. During the cave exploration, we would call each other's names to prevent anyone from falling behind. We had a feeling of both fear and mystery, as well as a certain exciting feeling.
After a long time, we saw a bright light in front, and the friends sped up. After gathering at the cave entrance, we all squeezed out of the cave. When we first saw the bright light, our eyes couldn't open. This is because we had spent a long time in the dark, and our eyes couldn't adapt quickly to the strong light, so we felt very uncomfortable.
The other end of the cave entrance is also in the middle of the hill. The south entrance platform is small and has no facilities. We can stand at the cave entrance and overlook the entire Star Sea Bay. Star Sea Bay, when it was developed, it was connected to Star Sea Park and various buildings. The Dalian Medical College is located at the foot of the mountain, and you can see the people and scenery in the courtyard clearly.
Not far from the cave entrance is a military camp. A soldier of the Liberation Army guarding the camp saw a large group of children coming out of the cave and was very surprised. He deliberately pulled the bolt of his gun and shouted, 'What are you doing? Go back!'
Maybe we children were worried about whether we were allowed to explore the cave. When we heard the soldier's shout, all the friends retreated into the cave and turned around and walked back. In fact, the cave is outside the military camp, and the army doesn't care about us. After we explore the cave, the soldiers on duty will still greet us.
It took us faster to walk back through the cave than when we went in. We didn't have a feeling of caution, and we didn't say anything or shout. When we finally came out of the cave again, we looked at each other and laughed. Our faces were covered with ashes from the fire lights, smeared in horizontal and vertical lines, like a face painting.
When we walked down the mountain to our homes, the friends talked about their experiences exploring the cave, and it felt like we had won a treasure hunt.
Dalian is not only a coastal city but also an important coastal defense city. From Lushunkow to Dalian City along the route, there are many mountains, and there are many caves on these mountains, mostly dug by Japanese occupation during the Chinese occupation. After liberation, these caves were abandoned for a long time and became playgrounds for many local children.
