镇雄天坑

Zhenxiong Tiankeng

Useful Information

Location:	Zhenxiong County, Zhaotong, Yunnan China 657209. Zhaotong City S10 motorway towards northeast, exit 镇雄北, G 246 north, left on S 304, at Liujiadi turn right on narrow road to the sinkhole. (27.596019, 104.771473)
Open:	no restrictions. [2025]
Fee:	free. [2025]
Classification:	Tiankeng Karst Cave
Light:	Incandescent
Dimension:	L=600 m, W=300 m, VR=200 m, A=1,420 m asl.
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Zhenxiong Tiankeng, Zhenxiong County, Zhaotong, Yunnan China 657209, Tel: +86-.
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

2015	Zhenxiong County Tourism Development Bureau compiles an inventory of Zhenxiong County, which lists 204 known caves in the area.
2015	Institute of Karst Geology of the Chinese Geological Bureau, the Chinese Ministry of Land and Resources, investigates the Daguoquan sinkhole cluster.

Description

镇雄天坑 (Zhenxiong Tiankeng) is named after the Zhenxiong County, where it is located. It is not the only tiankeng in this area but probably the largest. It is elliptical with the main axis almost north-south, it is 690 m long, 300 m wide, and up to 200 m deep. The site is also known as 麻疯院 (Má fēng yuàn, Leprosy Hospital), because the site was actually used not long ago for the quarantining and treatment of lepers, people suffering from leprosy. Leprosy was believed to be extremely contagious, which is wrong, and divinely ordained, which explains why people who suffered from leprosy were treated so badly. Modern medicine is able to treat the disease since the 1940s, but nevertheless such leper colonies existed until the 1980s. And in some countries like India and China they still exist. However, this one was abandoned, and the former leper colony infrastructure is now the home to several families, which live in the huge doline and use the fertile floor for growing vegetables and food for some pigs. It’s a rather typical Chinese hamlet, with the only exception of the quite spectacular location.

The tiankeng has vertical limestone walls, there is no road into the depression, only a footpath. This footpath was built for the leper colony and is made of concrete, rather wide and comfortable. The entrance is at the rim at the southern tip of the tiankeng. Here the paved road ends at a small car park. The trail was built along the vertical cliff anticlockwise and soon reaches the floor of tiankeng. The floor is not level, it actually has the shape of a huge bowl. And so the trail leads through the terraced fields to the northern end of the tiankeng. Here are a few buildings which were built into a huge cave entrance. It’s a 700 m long walk and takes about 15 minutes to get to this village.

The cave entrance is actually the entrance to a huge cave passage. The locals have installed electric light in the cave, because the collect dripping water for drinking here, and use the cave to store goods. And a bonus: this is not a show cave, and so the light is pure white, which makes the visit quite pleasant! There are trails, rough footpaths, but actually no development except for the light and the dams for the water cisterns. Nevertheless, it is very easy to visit the cave, good walking shoes are all you need. The locals are happy to present "their" cave to guests.

We listed this site because it is really spectacular and the infrastructure allows an easy visit. Nevertheless, be aware that this is not a tourist site, it is the home of several families, eight households with 32 people. So be polite and friendly, and do not enter houses or the cave without permission. The trail to the hamlet is more or less a public road. Some older people lived here when it was still a leper colony and are quite shy. But the young generation is open-minded, educated, and friendly. They have electricity, phone and even internet (weather-depending).

The Daguoquan sinkhole cluster, also called Zhenxiong sinkhole cluster, is a group of six tiankengs in Zhenxiong County and covers an area of about 0.4 km². It is the largest group of tiankengs in Yunnan. In 2015, the Zhenxiong County Tourism Development Bureau compiled an inventory of Zhenxiong County, which lists 204 known caves in the area. The Institute of Karst Geology of the Chinese Geological Bureau, the Chinese Ministry of Land and Resources, investigated the sinkholes in 2015 and suggested to create a national geological park. The area has karst sandstone erosion, fossil sites and some geological disaster sites. As far as we know this geopark has not been created [2025].