Yellow Dragon Cave (huáng lóng dòng 黄龙洞), which is the most famous scenery in Wulingyuan Scenic Area (wǔ líng yuán fēng jǐng qū 武陵源风景区), has been regarded as “the marvelous spectacle of the karst cave in the world”, "No. 1 Karst Cave”, and “the most beautiful cave” in the world. The total area of the cave is 100,000 square meters. The geologists from home and abroad all think that Yellow Dragon Cave includes all the characteristics of a karst cave. There are splendid stalactites, stalagmites, hills, and rivers in the cave. 

When you entering the cave, you can see the Gathering Hall (jù huì tīng 聚会厅), which is the smallest hall of the thirteen halls. However, it covers the area of about 6000 square kilometers. There is a stage in the hall, where there are lots of stalactites. It is said that the Dragon King (lóng wáng 龙王) always hold a dance party on the stage.

Tianxian Palace (tiān xiān gōng 天仙宫) is the widest hall in Yellow Dragon Cave. It is 96 meters in width from south to north, and 105 meters from east to west. There is a huge stone waterfall, which has a drop of 40 meters. It is the largest stone waterfall in all the developed karst caves. The stone waterfall is yellow because there are much mud contained in the water. Thus people also called it “Loess Plateau”(huáng tǔ gāo yuán 黄土高原).

There is a river called Xiangshui River (xiǎng shuǐ hé 响水河), with a total length of 2820 meters. The average depth of the river is 6 meters and the deepest part is 12 meters. Since the temperature of the river is 16℃, it provides the ideal living environment for the giant salamanders (wá wá yú 娃娃鱼), which belongs to the first class of state protection in China.

Among all the stalactites, the most magnificent one is the Dinghaishenzhen (dìng hǎi shén zhēn 定海神针). It is 19.2 meters high with a diameter of 10 centimeters. When you rap it, there will be the sound easy on the ear, which attracts many people.

Yellow Dragon Cave
Location: East of Suoxiyu Natural Reserve (suǒ xī yù zì rán fēng jǐng qū 索溪峪自然风景区), Zhangjiajie (zhāng jiā jiè 张家界), Hunan Province
Admission fee: RMB 80
Opening hours: 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Tel: 0744-5618489/5612006
Traffic: you can take bus at Zhangjiajie Bus Station to Wulingyuan Bus Station and then take bus No.1 to Yellow Dragon Cave