Grottes et karsts de Chine
Sur les traces de Xu Xiake

4.1 Lao Mei (show cave)

Zone 48 - 656540 2740915 Alt 970m

Survey contains 18 survey stations, joined by 17 shots.

There are 0 loops.

Total length of survey shots = 456.00m (456.00m adjusted)

Total plan length of survey shots = 451.84m Total vertical length of survey shots = 19.80m

Vertical range = 17.13m (from lao_mei.m17 at 970.37m to lao_mei.m2 at 953.24m)

North-South range = 125.68m (from lao_mei.m13 at 2740951.70m to lao_mei.m1 at 2740826.02m)

East-West range = 350.99m (from lao_mei.gps at 656540.00m to lao_mei.m1 at 656189.01m)

1-nodes (qty 2) 2-nodes (qty 16)

The entrance is above where the main river disappears into the hillside. It overlooks the town of Leye. It is almost horizontal and is gated at the far end before it joins the main river. The entrance is also gated and does not seem to have had much traffic. The characteristic feature of this cave is the lotus formations, like islands in the large shallow pools. There are no large chambers, but the cave is consistently beautiful. Separate to the show cave, the main river seemed feasible, but was not explored