Zhangjiajie’s Unique Attraction: 20-Meter Stone Pillar Insured for 100 Million, A True Maze
When people mention Zhangjiajie, it's familiar to everyone. The popularity of the movie 'Avatar' in its time made countless people yearn for its magnificent mountains and waters. Visiting Zhangjiajie, the National Forest Park and Tianmen Mountain are must-visit attractions for many tourists. However, Zhangjiajie is often shrouded in mist, and seeing the scenery largely depends on luck. Like last time Mr. Duck went to Zhangjiajie, it was windy and rainy, and he basically didn't see any scenery.
In fact, there is a scenic area in Zhangjiajie that is completely unaffected by the weather – 'Huanglong Cave'. Huanglong Cave boasts the largest scale, the most comprehensive content, and the most beautiful scenery, almost covering the entire 'Study of Caves' content. It's the 'all-round champion' of caves worldwide.
Legend has it that during the Qing Dynasty's hundred-day drought in the year of Qianlong, renowned monk He Junru led his disciples into the cave to pray for rain, but all of them perished, and He Lao Si left his last words before dying – 'Dry land is a good field, don't hit Huanglongquan.' Thus, Huanglong Cave was long forgotten until the early 1983, when local villagers Mao Jinchu organized nine militiamen and finally discovered the truth of this world-renowned cave spectacle after countless hardships.
The landmark of Huanglong Cave is this 'sea-guiding needle' that's 20 meters long. It's thick on both ends and narrow in the middle, and the narrowest part is only 10 centimeters in diameter. Cave scientists estimate that it took at least 200,000 years to grow to such a height. In 1998, to strengthen the protection of this 'treasure of the cave', Huanglong Cave insured this needle for 100 million RMB, creating a precedent for humans to insure resource assets, which shocked the domestic and international tourism, insurance, and news circles.
'If you don't visit Huanglong Cave, it's pointless to travel the world's caves.' Huanglong Cave has two layers of dry caves and two layers of water caves. The entire cave resembles an ancient tree with intertwined roots and branches. There's a cave within a cave, a cave within a cave, and a cave within a cave. Tourists are led by a unified cave guide called 'Aime' in different time slots to explore the cave, which takes about 2.5 hours to complete a tour.
To better disperse the flow of visitors, each 'Aime' leads a different route. The terrain inside the cave is complex, so it's important to recognize your own guide, follow their explanations closely, because you can't discover the secrets by yourself, and getting lost could lead to getting stuck, Huanglong Cave is truly a 'big maze'
'Maze' is the signature attraction of the world's 'all-round champion' Huanglong Cave, located in the deepest branch cave. The 'Dragon King's Throne' is located in the center, with countless stone pillars and stone formations surrounding it. In addition, there's a 'sound stone' in the cave. There's a waterfall in the cave, reaching 50 meters high. There's water and mountains in the cave, which is rare in domestic caves.
The entire tour takes place inside the cave, unaffected by the outside weather, so it can be seen in beautiful scenery throughout the year, and it's the only one in Zhangjiajie that doesn't require 'gambling on luck' to see the weather. Coupled with its incredible and unique underground 'maze' landscape, it has attracted a large number of tourists.
The only Zhangjiajie scenic area that doesn't require 'gambling on luck' to see the weather, 20-meter stone needle insured for 100 million RMB, a 'maze' of underground attractions, experts praise: World cave all-round champion!
