Introduction to Yellow Dragon Cave

Yellow Dragon Cave is a world-famous karst cave attraction within Zhangjiajie Wulingyuan Scenic and Historic Interest Area. It has earned global renown with top honors including "World Wonder Cave", "All-Around Champion of World Caves" and "China’s Most Beautiful Tourist Cave". The total floor area of the cave chamber verified by surveys reaches 100,000 square meters. The cave consists of four layers, featuring caves nested inside caves, mountains within caves, and underground rivers winding through caverns. Geological experts from home and abroad have concluded that Yellow Dragon Cave boasts unparalleled scale, complete cave landforms and stunning scenery, covering all research subjects of speleology. It stands unrivaled worldwide for its massive three-dimensional cave structure, abundant karst landscapes, and combined land-and-water sightseeing routes.

As a core component of Wulingyuan, a World Natural Heritage Site, Global Geopark and one of China’s first batch of AAAAA-level tourist zones, Yellow Dragon Cave was named "China’s Most Beautiful Tourist Cave" in 2005.

The scenic spot sits inside Wulingyuan Scenic Area in Zhangjiajie City, Hunan Province. It is 36 kilometers away from downtown Zhangjiajie, Zhangjiajie Hehua International Airport, Zhangjiajie Railway Station and Zhangjiajie Central Bus Station, and 20 kilometers from the Yanghe Exit of the Changsha-Zhangjiajie Expressway. High-grade Zhangqing Highway links the city center to the scenic area, and Provincial Highway S306 leads directly to the site. It features typical karst landforms.

Yellow Dragon Cave was discovered by eight local young militiamen in 1983 and officially opened to the public on October 1, 1984. Since its opening, it has received over 10 million domestic and overseas tourists.

Surveys confirm Yellow Dragon Cave covers a total chamber floor area of 100,000 square meters, stretches 7.5 kilometers in full length, and has a vertical height difference of 140 meters. Divided into four layers, it holds interwoven caves and underground rivers, filled with countless spectacular speleothems such as stalagmites, stone pillars and stalactites, forming an endless gallery of breathtaking natural wonders.

According to geological research, the area of Yellow Dragon Cave was a vast ocean around 380 million years ago, where thick soluble limestone and dolomite strata were deposited. Cave formation began after a long geological period. Around 65 million years ago, crustal uplift formed dry caverns, and subsequent karst erosion and water flow sculpted the underground marvel we see today. More than 70 specialists from China’s Ministry of Geology conducted field inspections and concluded that Yellow Dragon Cave nearly incorporates all contents of speleology in terms of scale, diversity and scenery, deserving the title "All-Around Champion of World Caves".

Dotted all over the cave are spectacular speleothems including stalactites, stalagmites and stone pillars in vivid varied shapes, creating an incomparable scenic experience. Its combined land-and-water sightseeing trails make it a uniquely distinctive cave destination both domestically and internationally.

Wulingyuan, inscribed as a World Natural Heritage Site, is undoubtedly a flagship treasure of China’s natural landscapes. Listed by the National Tourism Administration as one of China’s 35 Top Tourist Attractions, Yellow Dragon Cave is well-deserved as the core highlight of this iconic scenic zone. This underground pearl hidden for hundreds of millions of years rose to fame at home and abroad along with Zhangjiajie’s opening-up in the early 1980s.

Yellow Dragon Cave distinguishes itself as an extraordinary tourist cave with its three-dimensional cave layout, vast underground space, spacious Dragon Palace Hall, tens of thousands of stalagmites, towering underground waterfalls, and integrated land-and-water sightseeing paths.

Inside the cave lie 1 reservoir, 2 underground rivers, 3 deep pools, 4 waterfalls, 13 grand halls, 98 winding corridors, dozens of miniature stone mountains, over a thousand white jade ponds and nearly ten thousand stalagmites. Every corner is covered with calcite speleothems formed by mineralized water: stalactites, stalagmites, stone pillars, cave flowers, stone curtains, stone branches, soda straws, cave pearls and stone corals. Every formation is magical and unique, turning the cavern into a fantastic underground magic palace.

Six major sightseeing zones are open to visitors: Dragon Dance Hall, Echo River, Heavenly Fairy Waterfall, Heavenly Pillar Street and Dragon Palace. There are more than 100 landmark formations, including the Magic Needle of the Sea, Ten-Thousand-Year Cedar, Dragon King’s Throne, Rocket Launch, Flower and Fruit Mountain, Heavenly Fairy Waterfall, Conch Blowing to the Sky, Twin Gate Welcoming Guests, Vicissitudes of the Sea and Loess Plateau.

Take Bus No.1 in Wulingyuan District to reach the cave.

A full tour takes a minimum of 3 hours.

An ecological square sits outside the cave. Inside, there is a single one-way sightseeing route with separate entrance and exit gates. Visitors may follow professional tour guides for the whole journey.

Address: Hekou Village, Suoxiyu Town, Wulingyuan District, Zhangjiajie City