Furong Cave () is a
karst
Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...
cave located on the banks of the
Furong River, from the seat of
Wulong District,
Chongqing
ChongqingPostal Romanization, Previously romanized as Chungking ();. is a direct-administered municipality in Southwestern China. Chongqing is one of the four direct-administered municipalities under the State Council of the People's Republi ...
, People's Republic of China.
History
First discovered by local farmers in 1993 the cave was opened to tourists in 1994. It became a national 4A tourist site in 2002 then in June 2006 part of the
South China Karst UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
World Heritage Site
World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
, the only cave in China on the
UNESCO list.
In August 1994, the Sino-British-American joint expedition carried out scientific investigation on the huge cave group of Furong Cave, and in August 1996, the Sino-British joint expedition again carried out scientific investigation on the Furong Cave group of Wulong. On June 15, 2001, the Sino-British-American joint expedition team of 19 members stationed at the base camp of Furong Cave scientific research activities. on June 16, the team formally carried out scientific investigation on the huge cave group of Furong Cave within a radius of about 100 square kilometers of Furong Cave. After nearly five days of painstaking exploration, the huge underground river water system of Furong Cave Group was initially explored.
On July 6, 2011, Furong Cave Scenic Area was officially approved by the National Tourism Administration as a National AAAAA (5A) Scenic Spot. On June 27, 2012, Furong Cave in Wulong, China officially established sisterhood relationship with
Crams Cave in France.
Description
Furong Cave has a total length of and a width varying from –. Inside, the cave is divided into three sections, with the first featuring colorful subterranean features. The remaining two areas focus on the science of cave formation. There are more than 30 features inside the cave including the ,
stone waterfall () at the foot of which coral-like projections extend to .
In the vicinity of the cave spread over a total area of around , there are more than 50 vertical shafts with a depth of over . including the deep Steam Shaft (), the deepest in Asia.
Formed during the
Cambrian
The Cambrian ( ) is the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 51.95 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran period 538.8 Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Ordov ...
/
Ordovician
The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and System (geology), system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era (geology), Era, and the second of twelve periods of the Phanerozoic Eon (geology), Eon. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years f ...
Periods some 500 million years ago,
the cave features numerous rarely found
speleothems including coral and dog-tooth like crystalline
calcite
Calcite is a Carbonate minerals, carbonate mineral and the most stable Polymorphism (materials science), polymorph of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). It is a very common mineral, particularly as a component of limestone. Calcite defines hardness 3 on ...
flowers as well as a variety of
helictite
A helictite is a speleothem (cave-formed mineral) found in a Solution cave, limestone cave that changes its axis from the vertical at one or more stages during its growth. Helictites have a curving or angular form that looks as if they were gro ...
s, and crystalline
gypsum flowers.
On December 10, 2023, the Wulong Furong River Gondola goes into operation.
See also
*
Xueyu Cave
*
Three Natural Bridges
*
South China Karst
References
External links
*�
China Radio International: "Furong Cave, Chongqing"
Caves of Chongqing
Karst caves
Karst formations of China
1993 archaeological discoveries
Tourist attractions in Chongqing
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