Geology Gone Wild in Suiyang
A Natural Museum
The Hongguoshu Scenic Area of Suiyang is similarly impressive. It is one big geological museum, and its caves reflect a variety of natural rock formation processes at work over the eons. The area is composed of a string of more than 10 scenic spots, including caves, waterfalls and a natural rock bridge.
Tianyuan is arguably the best known of the caves. It was in Tianyuan that Ran Jin and Ran Pu lived and practiced martial arts before leaving to fight invading Mongol forces in the late Southern Song Dynasty. Today the cave still stands, while the Rans are long gone. It was exciting to visit the cave just as it would have been when the two great warriors called it home.
Nearby sees the joining of the Jialing, Fujiang and Qujiang rivers, a site which also has historical significance. At their confluence sits Diaoyu Island, on which a military fortress called Diaoyu City was built.
Over 700 years ago the united Mongols under Genghis Khan conquered lands as far west as modern-day Poland and Hungary. Conquering China was a greater prize than Europe for the Mongols, but as they pushed south toward the power base of the Southern Song Dynasty, they met with fierce resistance at Diaoyu City and suffered great losses. Their leader Mongke Khan and his troops were besieged on the island, and the Khan was killed.
Legend has it that Ran Jin and Ran Pu also built Diaoyu City, and fought in the battle that finished off Mongke Khan. The two were purported to have perfected their martial arts skills in Tianyuan Cave as youngsters.
The lore surrounding the lives of the two Ran’s also extends to Tianyuan Cave itself. There is a hole in its ceiling; visitors must crane their necks high to see it. I did, and I could make out blue sky on the other side. My tour guide told me that never has there been any record of rain falling down through the hole into the cave – no matter what the weather has been like outside.
The legend of the hole is tied to that of the Ran brothers. One day in the cave their mother was tattooing their backs when lightning flashed, thunder shook the cave and a hole suddenly opened up in its ceiling, through which a ray of red light shone down onto the Ran brothers’ backs. It was a sign that a glorious destiny awaited the brothers; indeed, in thwarting the southern advance of the Mongols, their names live on for all of history.
Moving on from Tianyuan, I came to Tiansheng, a natural rock bridge. It’s 40 meters wide, 50 meters high and 60 meters long. The gigantic arc-shaped rock formation spans an old riverway. I looked around and saw no rocky mountains in immediate vicinity, and wondered how such a huge rock came to sit right above a river.
Out of all the sights in the Hongguoshu Scenic Area, the Shuilian (Water-curtain) Cave was a standout. Its name is fairly self-explanatory – a cave formed naturally behind a waterfall, which from the inside really did look like a curtain, only noisier. It was very cool inside the cave; the temperature disparity with the outside world can reach around 16 degrees centigrade.
Ducking back through the waterfall now, we walked up a narrow path on a neighboring hill until we had a bird’s-eye view of the spectacular waterfall, which is 26 meters wide and 36 meters high. It is not as large as some waterfalls in China, but it must be one of the prettiest.
Jiudaomen
The Jiudaomen parkland, Kuankuo River and Shuanghe cave complex form a triangle of scenic spots. Jiudaomen boasts clusters of karst limestone hills and contains the Wufengling, or Five Peaks Mountain, and Black Dragon Lake.
The landscape at Jiudaomen is eerily similar to that in Zhangjiajie, home to the UNESCO World Heritage Wulingyuan Scenic Area. Many of the names of peaks here are the same as those in Wulingyuan, so much so that it’s a little disorientating for tourists who have visited both.
Where Wulingyuan has the Five Fingers Peak, Jiudaomen has Five Peaks Mountain, Wufengling. It is near to Fengtoufeng – Phoenix Head Peak. Hundreds of different kinds of flowers are indigenous to the area, and springtime is polychromatic.
Close to Phoenix Head Peak are located – logically – Phoenix Wing Peak (Fengyifeng) and Phoenix Tail Peak (Fengweifeng). In the middle section of the “tail” is a crevice several meters wide, across which was built an iron suspension in 1876 during the reign of Qing Dynasty Empreror Guangxu. The bridge still stands today.
Heilong Lake took its name from a black dragon that, according to legend, once roamed the river valleys here. The river valley at Jiudaomen is only 10 meters wide. On either side are vertical cliff faces. I looked at one of the cliff faces a little closer. It was pockmarked with countless little holes, and surprisingly I also found mini-stalactites and stalagmites on the cliff face. Sheltered from the elements in these steep valleys, the kind of phenomena usually found deep underground were out in the open here.
A Little Luxury
Xiaosanxia (Lesser Three Gorges) is well worth visiting while in Suiyang. The Furong River departs from the Kuankuoshui River, and its many branches nourish every inch of the land. In the four-kilometer section of the river that passes through Wenquan Township, the water barrels along at the foot of dizzying peaks. Erosion and quick currents have created gorges – the Cleft Gorge (Duanbixia), the Yellow Croaker Gorge (Huangyuxia) and the Great Ravine Gorge (Dajianxia) – that rival the famous Three Gorges in beauty. For me, the three little gorges in Suiyang win out – they don’t come with throngs of tourists.
After busy days traipsing through the mountains, what better way to relax than to jump into a natural hot spring. The one near Shuanghe Cave gets its geothermal heat from 1,500 meters underground. The source has been there for 500 million years. Water temperatures at the surface are balmy all year round. Don’t miss the opportunity to take a dip – it’s the only such hot spring formed along the Furong River in Guizhou.
Hot springs are generally said to work wonders for our health, and the Shuanghe hot spring is no exception. Its water contains 18 different minerals, including strontium, which is known to have theraputic effects on those suffering from cardiovascular diseases. It’s also useful in treating skin diseases, rheumatism and arthritis. Residents in nearby towns are said to have remarkably low instances of such ailments. They swear it’s thanks to bathing in the local hot spring.
