花山谜窟

Huashan Quarries - Huashan Mysterious Grottos

Useful Information

Location:	Wu Village, Tunguang Town, Tunxi District, Huangshan, 001. (29.7515252, 118.3887295)
Open:	Peak Season daily 8-17:30. Low season daily 8-17. [2024]
Fee:	Adults CNY 91. Combo with boat: Adults CNY 141. [2024]
Classification:	Rock Mine Room and Pillar Mining sandstone quarries
Light:	Incandescent Coloured Light
Dimension:	Grotto No 35: L=170 m, H=8 m. Grotto No 25: L=140 m.
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Huashan Quarries, Wu Village, Tunguang Town, Tunxi District, Huangshan, Tel: +86-559-2359-888.
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

2000	rediscovered by a local farmer who went to Flower Hill to cut wood.

Description

The 花山谜窟 (Huashan Grottos) are often advertised as Huashan Mystical Grottos or as Mystical Grottos in Flower Hill. The abandoned quarry was forgotten for a long time, and was rediscovered by a farmer in 2000. He went to Flower Hill to cut wood, when he found one of the entrances. After his discovery the site was explored, and a total of 36 quarries were discovered, which extend along the hill for about 5 km. In this area the layer of the rock which was quarried reached the surface, and so it was mined first in open casts, then they followed the layer underground.

This site is a quite common room and pillar rock quarry, and there is not much which is mysterious, but in order to make the site all the descriptions tell about mysterious grottoes. They say the lack of debris from the mining suggests that these were no quarries and so the origin is mysterious. As the quarries are located on the 30 degrees Northern Latitude, as well as the pyramids, Noah’s ark and the Bermuda Triangle, they are definitely mysterious. Some say they were excavated as troops shelters, for food storage, or for men slaughter. Others say these are tombs of ancient emperors. Some say the inclined plane of the walls has exactly the same slope as the outside hill, which would have been impossible to built with the technology 1,500 years ago. This one is obvious: they followed the incline of the rock layer as well as the hill outside. Others say that in China there was a bureaucracy for 4,000 years, and so there should be documents, probably contracts or even descriptions. That’s actually the only argument which is not nonsensical, its definitely mysterious that there are no written mentions.

Of 36 quarries two have been developed as a tourist site, with trails and electric light. The largest quarry is Grotto No 35, which is 170 m long and up to 18 m high. It is named (Qingliang Cave, Underground Palace). The floor is not simply flat there are structures on the ground like cisterns, bridges, and gutters. The ceiling is supported by 26 stone pillars. The second quarry is (Huanxi Cave) with a length of 140 m. Then there is No2 Grotto, and two more. There is a series of trails across the hill, a café and toilets. The visitors walk self-guided along the trails and visit the caves also self-guided.

The site was developed as a scenic area. The car park is located across the river on the northern shore, at the road S349. From here a paved trail to the river and the bridge starts. There is also an elevated wooden trail along the river. Then the rather bombastic bridge across the Xin'an River is crossed, and after another short walk uphill the entrance of the quarry is reached. It’s also possible to visit a water-filled quarry which opens to the river. There ar wooden rowing boats which start at the bridge and enter the flooded quarry.