Grottes et karsts de Chine
Sur les traces de Xu Xiake

Panzihua East Cave is located only 6.5 kilometers to the east of town, on a hill behind Nong Nong Stream Town at a village by the same name. The GPS reading was 26°38’03.6”N and 101°41’12.4”E with an elevation of 1,882 meters. It has a sub- surface stream and is called a water cave.

A pool inside feeds a wide stream which takes up most of the cave’s entire width. But the water is shallow and never deeper than knee-high, flowing outside the cave to become a stream. According to locals, the stream used to come out of a tiny hole and the villagers dug a wider entrance to get more water. When they did, they found the cave.

Our exploration showed the cave to be 123.4 meters in length with a maximum height of 7.7 meters and maximum width of 7.5 meters. The formation is rather simple and follows the stream’s development As it is still a water-filled cave, it does not have any stalagmites.

[Zhang Fan]