Benxi Water Cave

One Of The Longest Navigable Water Filled Karst Caves Open To Visitors; National 5A Tourist Attraction · Benxi, Liaoning

A flooded limestone cave in the hills of eastern Liaoning where visitors ride boats along an underground river, one of the longest such cave passages open anywhere. The water runs for several kilometres through the rock at a steady few degrees above freezing, and electric boats carry passengers nearly three kilometres in, past chambers where the ceiling lifts far overhead and stalactites hang in ranks above the water, lit in colours that are either gaudy or magical depending on taste. The cave was formed along a fault in Cambrian and Ordovician limestone, and its formations have the usual fanciful names - the Jade Pillar, the Nine Dragons, the Silver Curtain. Above the water cave lies a dry cave with walkways, a geology museum explaining how the system formed, and a park of petrified wood, all covered by the same ticket and linked by electric carts. Because the cave stays cold year-round, thick jackets are handed out at the jetty even in August, and the contrast with a Liaoning summer day outside is part of the fun.

Benxi Water Cave, Benxi Manchu Autonomous County, Benxi, Liaoning, China

Daily, about 7:00-18:00 from April to October and 8:00-17:00 from November to March (check); boats run through opening hours.

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