Taoyuandong

Taoyuan Cave - Cave of the Peach Garden - Yong-an Taoyuan Cave

Useful Information

Location:	10 km north of Yong’an city, Sanming district, Fujian province. Highway 205, Binlu Mountain (Wuyi Mountains). (26.023072, 117.417268)
Open:	Summer daily 8-17:30. Winter daily 8-17. [2025]
Fee:
Classification:	Gorge Fissure caves Neotectonic Cave
Light:	n/a
Dimension:	L=10,000 m.
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Taoyuandong, Yong-an.
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

~1600	area developed as a tourist area.
1987	listed as one of the first batch of provincial-level scenic spots.
1994	listed as a National Key Scenic Area.
2019	scenic area renovated due to safety hazards and damaged facilities.
2023	renovation completed.

Description

桃源洞 (Taoyuandong, Peach Blossom Spring Cave) is located 10 kilometers north of Yong'an City, Sanming City, Fujian Province. Despite the name there is actually no cave, the park has a small river, the Peach Blossom Stream, which is a tributary of 沙溪河 (shāxī hé, Sha River). And the rocks and the forested hill create the impression of a cave entrance. The cliff on the right side is 120 m high, and four 36 m high large Chinese characters meaning "Peach Blossom Cave Entrance" are carved in the rock. They were created by Chen Yuanzhan, a famous scholar, in 1605.

But there is even a more spectacular gorge named 一线天 (A Line of Sky) which is a large mountain crack, as if cleaved by a knife, runs straight through the cliff edge. It is 90 m deep and 120 m long, the floor id ascending with 120 steps. This is obviously a tectonic formation, most likely a block of rock started to move downhill due to the erosion of the main gorge. As a result the crack in the rock opened up. This is called a Speleology fissure cave.

And there is a third cave, this time a real cave, named 环玉洞 (Huanyu Cave). It is quite small, only 12.7 m long, 10 m wide, and 2-3 m high, and also of tectonic origin.

Peach Blossom Spring Cave is located in Taoyuan Cave Scenic Area, a park of about 550 ha, which includes numerous sights. This area is called Linyin Stone Forest. There are typical karst towers, like Drum Tower Rock, Stony Pearl Rock, North Corridor Rock, Sanceng (Three Tier Peak) and Sanyang (Three Summit Peak, 717 m asl). Another show cave in the area is Green Cloud Cave. More sights are Golden Brick Pool and Kaiyuan Hall.

The rugged karst landscape was first noted for its beauty in the Ming Dynasty (AD 1368-1644) and it was first transformed into a sort of park at that time. The weather is humid and warm, it is pleasant to visit all year around.