九龙洞

Jiulongdong - Nine-Dragon Caves

Useful Information

Location:	Bijiang District, Tongren, China, 554311. Jiulongdong NP. 17 km southeast of Tongren City in Guizhou Province. There are boats from the West Gate Bridge in Tongren. (27.705477, 109.326674)
Open:	All year daily 9-16. [2025]
Fee:	Adults CNY 70. [2025]
Classification:	Karst Cave Dragon Cave
Light:	Incandescent
Dimension:	L=2,258 m.
Guided tours:	D=3 h.
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address:	Jiulongdong, Bijiang District, Tongren, China, 554311, Tel: +86-856-523-6416.
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History

Description

九龙洞 (Jiulong Dong, Nine-Dragon Cave) is located inside Guaiyin Mountain on the east bank of Malong Stream. It is located in the homonymous Nine-Dragon Cave Scenic Area, which also has the sights of Jing River Valley, the Jing River Reservoir and some other caves such as Huangla, Qingming and Tian'e. Nine-Dragon Cave is situated on the slope of the Kwan-yin Hill on the right bank of the Malong Creek (Scolding Dragon Creek).

Jiulong Cave has a huge entrance portal, some 70 m wide and 50 m high. Inside the passage becomes even bigger, the widest point is about 100 m wide. It has three chambers, the first with a flat ceiling offers various speleothems with fantastic forms. The second chamber is noted for its curtains. The third chamber is almost circular, with a domed roof, and big enough to accommodate 10,000 people. In the middle of the chamber are six huge stalagmites with a height of about 30 m. A huge round stalagmite with a diameter of 9 m is called jellyfish. The cave is named after the following legend.

Six yellow dragons once lived on the hill. One day they invited three black dragons from the Jing River. When they visited the cave together, they were fascinated by the beauty and decided to live there. But each one wanted the cave for himself, so they started quarrelling with each other. They were squabbling until daybreak when they became tired. They climbed on the stalagmites where they became stone and are still visible today.

Actually most of the stalagmites were named after animals or landscapes. There are peacocks, lions, camels, monkeys, whelks, and sea turtles. Others resemble clouds, waterfalls, or flowers.

The cave is located on the hillside close to the river. Old descriptions tell that the cave is reached by boat or by bus, and then it is necessary to ferry across the river for the cave. There was a 2.5 km hike uphill to the cave, and the locals offered horses to ride up. The bus and ferry, as well as the cave were rather cheap, we do not know how expensive the horse was. The boat was more expensive, but it landed on the right side of the river, so the ferry was obsolete. However, that’s actually outdated. The scenic area has a car park, ticket office and shops right beneath the bus station on the northern side of the river. There is a new road with a bridge across the river which leads uphill to the cave entrance. So it’s recommended to go to the scenic area and get a ticket, which includes the ride to the cave with a bus.

There is another cave close to the Nine-Dragon Cave, the Cold and Hot Wind Caves some 1.5 km off. It seems one is a karst cave with a rather cool air coming out, while the other is a thermal spring, and so the wind is quite warm. The Chinese description, of course, emphasises the ‘yin’ and ‘yang’ of the site.