Tenglong Cave

Tenglong Cave near Lichuan is among the largest cave systems known in Asia, with surveyed passages running to some sixty kilometres across dry and water sections. Its entrance is the striking part: a mouth around seventy metres high and sixty wide, into which the Qingjiang river disappears underground, and a first chamber so large that a hot-air balloon has been flown inside it and a light-and-sound performance is staged with room to spare. The dry cave is walked for several kilometres past chambers, columns and formations, and a water section is toured by boat. Above ground, the river's disappearance into the hillside is itself the main sight.

What you actually see

• The entrance chamber - a mouth seventy metres high with the river vanishing into it.
• The dry cave walk - kilometres of passage past chambers and formations.
• The water cave - the boat section on the underground river.
• The staged performance - the light and sound show in the entrance hall.

When to go

April to October; the cave holds a constant cool temperature and a jacket is needed. Heavy rain can close the water section. Weekends and holidays bring queues for the performance and boats.

Honest expectations

Cave lighting is theatrical rather than natural. The performance is a commercial show. Sections are ticketed separately and the walking is several kilometres. Lichuan is remote in western Hubei.

Nearby

The Enshi Grand Canyon lies east; Chongqing is west.