龍水峽地縫

Longshuixia Difeng

Useful Information

Location:	Baiguo Village, 787 County Road, Fairy Mountain Town, Wulong District, Chongqing (29.406085, 107.788328)
Open:	All year daily 8:30-16:30. [2021]
Fee:	Adults CNY 85. [2021]
Classification:	Gorge
Light:	n/a
Dimension:	L=900 m, W=1 m, VR=350 m.
Guided tours:	self guided, D=1h
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Longshuixia Difeng, Baiguo Village, 787 County Road, Fairy Mountain Town, Wulong District, Chongqing, Tel: +86-23-77790777.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

Description

龍水峽地縫 (Longshuixia Difeng) is a quite narrow gorge which is developed by an elevated wooden trail. 地缝 (Difeng) means more or les crack in the ground. The gorge runs north to south for about a kilometer, but there is a lot to see, and the trail is quite steep. You should plan an hour for the walk. There are parking lots on both ends of the gorge, so tout operator will pick you up at the other end of the gorge.

Starting at the northern end a trails leads down into the narrow gorge. The upper end of the gorge is a cave entrance from which the river emerges which formed the gorge. The cave is named 蛟龙寒窟 (Jiaolong Cave) and cannot be entered. The trail follows the gorge downstream to the 银河飞瀑 (Galaxy Falls). It emerges high above from a cave resurgence above a limestone ledge and falls in the middle of the gorge. The path was built behind the waterfall. There is also the 小小天生桥 (Tiny Natural Bridge), which is much bigger than the name suggests. The remaining piece of a cave has a vast passage which is crossed by the trail.

The Longshui Gorge is formed by the same river which flows through Three Natural Bridges. After flowing above ground for about 5 km it is swallowed up about 1 km from the beginning of the gorge. It reappears at the upper end, which makes clear that the gorge is actually a roofless cave, the roof was eroded and so the cave passage is noe a gorge. Not all the groundwater reaches the surface, the bigger part flows in a lower cave level. After the gorge the river vanishes again and finally flows into the Wujiang River underwater.

The microclimate in the gorge is humid, and the vertical walls are green from the lush vegetation. At the ground there are patches of lush vegetation. The gorge is quite wet, dripping water and waterfalls everywhere, so we recommend a raincoat and an umbrella. You will get wet nevertheless.

According to legend, there is dragon hiding in the lake at the lower end of the gorge. Because of this, the lake was named 龙水潭 (Longshuitan, Dragon Water Pool). When the moon is in the sky, the moon is reflected in the lake. The sky and the earth are indistinguishable, the pond and the moon shine together.