Yellow Dragon Cave - A Miraculous Maze Under the Ground

As a part of Wulingyuan Scenic and Historic Interest Area, the world natural heritage, Yellow Dragon Cave, or Huanglong Cave, is a must-visit scenic spot. It is known to the world as 'A Wonder of Cave on Earth', 'the All-round Champion Among All Caves' and 'The Most Beautiful Cave in China'. Reputed as 'An Enchanted Palace Under the Ground', Huanglong Cave is a typical Karst cave. Inside of the cave, you could see a large number of naturally formed cave sediments that are millions of years in the making, including stalactites, stalagmites, stone pillars, stone flowers, etc. They occasionally resemble the objects they are named after. These sediments, subterranean pools, lakes and falls are all illuminated in fancy colors. All of them create an miraculous palace under the ground. In the cave, you could not only hike to catch a glimpse of these stones with over thousands of years' old, but also take a boat along the river inside to explore the beauty of Yellow Dragon Cave.

Yellow Dragon Cave's name comes from a legend of a dragon that lived inside the cave, but it also seems to make reference to its monstrous size. Visitors often spend over two hours walking in its cavernous caverns, marveling at stalagmites and stalactites that are millions of years in the making. Huanglong Cave consists of 4 layers, including 2 water caves and 2 dry caves. The explored area is about 100,000 square meters, and the vertical dimension between the highest point and the lowest point is about 100 meters. Nowadays, there are totally 6 scenic areas with totally more than 100 scenic spots in Huanglong Cave, covering Dragon Place, Xiangshui River, Tianxian Waterfall, Labyrinth, Dragon Dance Palace and Sky Column Street. Among them, the best highlights of Yellow Dragon Cave are as following.

Recommended Tours
>> 4 Days Zhangjiajie Classic Discovery Tour
>> 5 Days Zhangjiajie Ultimate Adventure Tour

Ticket: Free

Dragon Palace, with the floor space of about 15,000 square meters and the average height of about 40 meters, is the largest hall in Yellow Dragon Cave. Inside of the hall, there are 2 thousands of stalagmites with various shapes. The 200 thousand years old Sea-Suppressing Needle is a highlight of the this palace. It is about 19.2 meters high, and is the highest stalagmite in the cave. According to experts, it is still growing, and may take 60 thousand years to grow 6 meters to reach the dome. In order to protect this needle, the administrative department of Huanglong Cave purchased an insurance for it. The cave's largest stalagmite is 12 meters tall and 50 meters in circumference. Its name is King's Throne, though every child would find Scary Monster's Head to be a more appropriate moniker. It is also another highlight of this palace.

Ticket: Free

Xiangshui River, a subterranean river in the second layer of Yellow Dragon Cave, is about 2,800 meters long. The average depth of the river is about 6 meters and the water temperature is around 15℃ over the year. There are many Chinese giant salamanders, a kind of protected fish in China, in the river. At present, visitors could take a boat to cruise for about 800 meters. The time spent is about 8 minutes. Along your trip, you could see beautiful mysterious scenery, such as Golden Armor of Dragon King, The Floating Sea Shell, Fairy Bridge, etc.

Ticket: Free

At one point, three waterfalls from 30 meters high strangely drop out of the centre of a hall ceiling, and its origin almost impossible to discern. They are called 'Tianxian Waterfall', which means that the water may originates from sky. Below the waterfall, there are stone terraces stacked on top of each other. They are seen as the fertile fields of Dragon King.

Sky Column Street - the Market of Immortals

Ticket: Free

Cross from the beautiful Fairy Bridge, you will arrive at the Sky Column Street, which is seen as the market of immortals. Centered with streets of immortals, with Mountain of Fruits and Flowers on the west, and the Fairy Palace on the east, the Sky Column Street is really bustling. You could image that there are so many immortals who come for buying and selling. The biggest highlight of this area is the Shiqin Mountain, which can be struck from different parts and generate wonderful melody. In 1984, it was struck to a popular children song.

Ticket: ¥15

Labyrinth, the bottom layer of Huanglong Cave, features with a large number of attractions. For those who prefer a more intimate experience, the Labyrinth is an additional section of cave available for viewing. It is a cave which is sandwiched between a river above and a river below. Accordingly, this moisture-filled cave is thickly populated with columns (stalactites and stalagmites that have made contact and grown into one stone). Visitors must suck in their bellies to squeeze through some tight spots. The majestic spaciousness of the halls above is nonexistent in the Labyrinth, and visitors quickly become wary of knocking their heads against the bulbous hanging stalactites.

Route: Shuang Men Ying Bin - Dragon Dance Palace - Xiangshui River - Tianxian Palace - Tianxian Waterfalls - Mountain of Fruits and Flowers - Fairy Bridge - Sky Column Street - Shiqin Mountain - Dragon Palace - Labyrinth - Shuijing River
Length: 3,200 m (2,400 m's walking and 800 m’s cruise)
Visiting Time: About 2 Hours (8 min’s visiting by water)
The entrance and exit of this visiting route are not same, so that you can catch a glimpse of most highlights of Yellow Dragon Cave. Meanwhile, you will not go the same way when you go back.
Recommended Tours
>> 4 Days Zhangjiajie Classic Discovery Tour
>> 5 Days Zhangjiajie Ultimate Adventure Tour

Opening Hours:
08:00-18:00 (1st, Apr - 15th, Oct: Monday - Sunday)
08:30-18:00 (16th, Oct - the Next 31st, Mar)

Entrance Tickets:
General Ticket: ¥100/person
Free Ticket: Children shorter than 1.2 meters. & The old older than 70 years old.

Notice:
1. The Entrance Ticket includes the round-trip fees of taking the boat to cruise in the Xiangshui River.
2. There is an additional fee for premiums, which is ¥3/person.
3. The ticket for Labyrinth is ¥15/person.

Yellow Dragon Cave is located at Hekou Village, Suoxiyu Town, Wulingyuan District, Zhangjiajie City, and it is about 40 km from Zhangjjiajie City. The driving distance between Zhangjiajie and its nearby attractions are as followings.

• 40 km away from Zhangjiajie City (55 min's driving)
• 10 km away from Baofeng Lake (20 min's driving)
• 12 km away from Suoxiyu (1 h by bus and walk)
• 14 km away from Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon (20 min's driving)
• 25 km away from Zhangjiajie National Forest Park (40 min's driving)
• 32 km away from Yuanjiajie (2 h's driving)
• 50 km away from Tianmen Mountain (1 h's driving)
• 80 km away from Tianmen Mountain (1 h 40 min's driving)

Yellow Dragon Cave is about 40 km from Zhangjiajie City (55 min's driving). Near the Yellow Dragon Cave, there is Bus Station of Bus No.1. You could firstly take coach to Wulingyuan Coach Station from Zhangjiajie Central Coach Station, and then transfer to Bus No.1 to Yellow Dragon Cave.

You could also take licensed private car of China Discovery. We can provide you convenient and comfortable private car transfer service included in our Zhangjiajie Tour Package. With our experienced local driver, you could no longer worry about the transportation along the trip. Meanwhile, our professional tour guide could escort you and explain every scenic spot for you. You could enjoy the treatment for VIP by choosing us. Furthermore, we could also help you to plan a tour in Zhangjiajie or any other places in China concerning your own time and budget. For more details, please feel free to contact our Private Consultant.

Zhangjiajie National Forest Park to Yellow Dragon Cave (25 km's driving distance)

The distance between Zhangjiajie National Forest Park and Yellow Dragon Cave is about 25 km, and it will take about 40 minutes by driving. As there is no direct bus between Zhangjiajie National Forest Park and Yellow Dragon Cave, you could choose to take a taxi or take a licensed private car of China Discovery via the roads outside of Wulingyuan Scenic Area.

If you want to go to Yellow Dragon Cave from the scenic area of Wulingyuan, then the total distance will be about 40 km. You can take the battery car to Wulingyuan ticket station. After walking for about 600 m, you could take the bus No.1 from Biaozhimen Bus Station to Yellow Dragon Cave. For more details, please feel free to contact our Private Consultant.

Yellow Dragon Cave to Baofeng Lake (10 km's driving distance)

The distance between Baofeng Lake and Yellow Dragon Cave is about 10 km, and it will take about 20 min by driving. You could firstly take bus No.1 to the Vegetable Market Bus Station, then walk for about 2 km to Baofeng Lake. Furthermore, you could also take a taxi or take a licensed private car of China Discovery.
Recommended Tours
>> 4 Days Zhangjiajie Classic Discovery Tour

Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon to Yellow Dragon Cave (14 km's driving distance)

The distance between Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon and Yellow Dragon Cave is about 14 km, and it will take about 20 min by driving. You could take the coach from Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon to Wulingyuan Coach Station, then you can get off at Yellow Dragon Cave. For more details about this coach, please feel free to contact our private consultant. Furthermore, you could also take a taxi or take a licensed private car of China Discovery.

♦ Hiking Tips: Yellow Dragon Cave is so large and there are so many stairs that you may take about 2 hours for hiking.

♦ Wearing Tips: The temperature in the cave is warm in Winter, and cool in Summer. So you’re advised to dress according to the time you go. Furthermore, you should also know that you will get hot during the hiking.

♦ Tour Guide: There is a free tour guide for about every 40 travellers. Please be sure to follow the tour guide closely, otherwise you may be lost in the cave. In addition, you could also rent a tour guide machine (¥20 per machine). However, both of them use Chinese to explain.

♦ No bathroom Inside: Use bathroom before you enter the cave.

Most of travelers come to Zhangjiajie for its exquisite forests, odd-shaped peaks and rocks, the beautiful canyons, the limestone caves, and the breath-taking panoramic views. Meanwhile, they may also go to visit the nearby Yellow Dragon Cave and Baofeng Lake. Generally, they may take 4 to 5 days to have a Zhangjiajie tour.

On the first day, they may arrive at Zhangjiajie city. From the next day, the tour will officially start with taking the cable car to Huangshi Village which is 1080m above the sea level. Later, explore the famous Golden Whip Brook which covers a distance of 7.5 km, winding across mountains and valleys. On the third day, you will first take Bailong elevator up to Yuanjiajie, which is situated in the north of Zhangjiajie National Park. This scenic area is world famous as the mountains here inspired the floating mountains in the Hollywood movie Avatar. Next, take a sightseeing bus to Tianzi Mountain, where you can have a stunning view of the peaks rising one after another. For the fourth day, you could firstly explore the mysterious Yellow Dragon Cave and then Baofeng Lake, named Water Paradise, is a typical scenery of Wulingyuan.

Recommended Tour
>> 4 Days Zhangjiajie Classic Discovery Tour

If you have 1 more day, you could also explore the Yellow Dragon Cave and Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon together at the fourth day, and go to visit Tianmen Mountain at the last day.

Recommended Tour
>> 5 Days Zhangjiajie Ultimate Adventure Tour

Furthermore, you could also customize a Zhangjiajie tour concerning your own interest and budgets. Please feel free to contact us.