Jiubujiang National Geopark

Jiubujiang National Geopark lies in eastern You County, Hunan Province, on the western side of the middle Luoxiao Mountains at the Hunan-Jiangxi border, covering an area of 193 square kilometers. Its terrain elevation ranges from 150 meters to 1,217 meters. The Eastern Hunan Railway and National Highway 106 run along the western edge of the park.

This large comprehensive geopark features geological relic landscapes as its core highlights, including karst caves, underground rivers, sinkholes, gorges, natural stone bridges, waterfalls, lakes and paleontological fossils. Complemented by abundant ecological and cultural landscapes, it integrates outstanding scientific and aesthetic value.

The geopark boasts typical, distinctive and well-developed karst peak cluster-valley landforms as well as intact cave and underground river systems, making it one of the regions with the most complete karst geomorphic sequences within a limited area in China. A great variety of surface and subsurface karst landforms can be found here: peak clusters, karst hills, karst valleys, blind valleys, depressions, dolines, stone forests, stone teeth, natural stone bridges, sinkholes, vertical shafts, karst caves and underground rivers. These landforms display distinct developmental features and orderly combinations, with systematic and complete records of their formation processes, evolutionary phases, developmental laws and characteristics. It serves as a classic representative of mid-subtropical karst peak cluster-valley landforms in eastern China.

Dense clusters of caves spread across the park, forming the easternmost and largest cave group in Hunan Province, even across the whole country. Multi-layer interconnected tunnels constitute a huge three-dimensional labyrinthine cave network. The caves are adorned with diverse and oddly-shaped scenic formations, featuring more than a dozen types of chemical sediments in extremely high abundance. There are also extensive landscapes formed by underground river erosion, sedimentation and in-cave collapse. Judging by cave density, scale and inner scenery, the park deserves the reputation of China’s "World of Caves" and "Cave Museum".

The forest coverage rate of the park reaches 96%, sustaining a nearly pristine ecological environment with abundant flora and fauna resources. It ranks among China’s vital subtropical complex ecosystems and key biological gene banks.

The park possesses a full spectrum of scenic elements: lakes and mountain vistas, cascading waterfalls and flowing springs, dense forests and secluded brooks, gorges and natural stone bridges, fantastic caves and underground watercourses, sheer cliffs and sinkholes, pastoral countryside and fossil sites. The landscapes are marvelous, precipitous and magnificent. Its karst caves, underground rivers, waterfalls and natural stone bridges stand out for their uniqueness. Their extraordinary scale, sheer quantity, imposing grandeur and complete range of karst types are rarely seen nationwide.

Combining caves, peaks, rivers, stone bridges, gorges, waterfalls and springs, the park embodies wildness, wonder, majesty, peril, serenity and grace all at once. It features marvelous natural scenery and a wealth of time-honored cultural relics, shining as a brilliant gem of geological tourism in the old revolutionary base area spanning Hunan and Jiangxi Provinces. It also functions as a rare base for scientific research, popular science education and teaching in geology and ecology.