瑶琳仙境

Yaolindong - Yaolin Cave - Yaolin Wonderland

Useful Information

Location:	110, Yaolin South Road, Yaolin Town, Tonglu County, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 311515. 85 km from Hangzhou city. (29.8881899, 119.5314124)
Open:	APR to OCT daily 8:30-16. NOV to MAR daily 8:30-15:30. [2025]
Fee:	Adults CNY 116. [2025]
Classification:	Karst Cave
Light:	Incandescent Coloured Light
Dimension:	L=1,000 m, Ar=20,000 m².
Guided tours:	D=1.5 h. V=370,000/a [2000]
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:	Jianhua Gong, Hui Lin, Xiaolu Yin (2000): Three-dimensional Reconstruction of the Yaolindong, Cartography and Geographic Information Science, vol 27, No. 1 (2000) thefreelibrary DOI pdf Linhua Song, Jingrong Yang, Laihong Wang (1998): The Potential Corrosion Of Speleothems By Condensation Water, Acta Carsologica, XXVII/I, 1, 215-229, Ljubljana 1998 online abstract
Address:	Yaolin Fairyland, 110, Yaolin South Road, Yaolin, Tonglu County, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 311515, Tel: +86-571-6436-1118.
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

1886	Yang Baoyi, the magistrate of Tonglu, officially names it “Yaolin Wonderland” and creates an inscription.
1979	cave explored and surveyed by cavers.
1981	opened to the public.
01 to 06-NOV-1992	3rd National Conference of Karst Geomorphology and Speleology took place at the cave.
2002	rated as 4A tourist attraction.
2022	cave declared a primary protection zone.
2023	new light system completed.

Description

瑶琳仙境 (Yáo lín xiānjìng, Yaolin Wonderland) seems to be the name of the scenic area, the cave is actually named (Yaolindong, Yaolin Cave). The cave is very interesting, and there are numerous international publications about the cave. We listed some papers above. Beneath some commitment in the development and protection of tourist caves, they are open for modern IT. There is a very interesting three-dimensional computer map of the cave on the web. In 1992 the cave hosted the Third National Conference of Karst Geomorphology and Speleology, which was organized by the Commission of Karst and Speleology of the Geographic Society of China and the Tourism Bureau of Tonglu County.

But the cave itself is also worth a visit. Enormous dimensions, as typical for caves in this area, and extraordinary speleothems make a visit rewarding. The cave has an occupation history dating back 2,900 years BP.

According to historical records, the poet Ke Yuezhai compared this cave to a fairyland for the first time, as early as the Song Dynasty. In the 12th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty (1886), Yang Baoyi, the magistrate of Tonglu, named this cave "Yaolin Fairyland" and he left an inscription which commemorates this strenuous task. But actually the cave entrance collapsed in the late Qing Dynasty, and the cave was more or less forgotten. It was reopened in 1979 by a group of 24 explorers organized by the local government. Immediately the development as a show cave was discussed, and the first chamber was opened to the public only one year later. The success was overwhelming, nearly 176,000 visitors in the first year. And the number rose in the next year to 450,000, after the tour ws extended to show three chambers.