Xijia River and Ox Nose Cave

Xijia River and Ox Nose Cave

Exiting the mouth of Huanglong Cave and descending the steps to the parking lot, you’ll see a thousand-year-old ancient poplar tree, lush and towering into the sky. Then, starting from the eastern foothills of the Xiong’er Mountain and heading west along Shuanglong Road for about 1.5 kilometers, you’ll find a major river running east-west at the mountain’s base, called the “Xijia River.” Geologically speaking, due to the limestone distribution along the banks of the Xijia River’s tributaries in the Vermilion Cave area, the gentle slopes of Xiong’er Mountain were formed.

Spanning the river is a large bridge that is 30 meters long, 6 meters wide, and 10 meters high, with several arched openings below. The river flows over these, creating a waterfall-like curtain dozens of meters wide that shimmers brilliantly in the sunlight, making for a spectacular sight. The river water remains clear and blue-green year-round, with reflections of the mountains and drifting clouds in its surface. A refreshing breeze adds to the serene experience. By walking across the dam and wading through the river for half a kilometer, you’ll reach the base of the mountain on the opposite side, where beneath a rocky cliff lies Ox Nose Cave.

Climbing up using both hands and feet for over 10 meters brings you to the cave entrance. There, you’ll see that Ox Nose Cave has two similarly sized openings, separated by a grayish-yellow sandstone slab—with the two caves flanking one rock, which from a distance resembles an ox’s nose. Crouching through the cave entrance, not far inside you’ll find a large, round-domed chamber with a spacious interior. On the front side of the cave, there’s a fissure through which a beam of light shines down, like a bright white curtain dividing the cave in two. Hanging from the cave wall is a grayish-yellow stalactite shaped like a small yellow dragon, with detailed scales and dappled shadows. Inside Ox Nose Cave, there are also three deep, smaller caves. Crawling into the slightly larger one and pressing your ear to listen, you can faintly hear the sound of flowing water in the distance. After heavy rain, the wonders of Ox Nose Cave are documented in the Yixian County Annals: “Ox Nose Cave—spring water emerges from the cliff beside the cave, gushing out from winding passages, spraying beads and blossoms, offering quite a marvelous sight.” Ox Nose Cave was also once another revolutionary memorial site in Zaozhuang. In 1935, Guo Zhiyuan and Zhang Guangzhong of the Southern Shandong Special Committee established the first grassroots Party organization here—the Dabeizhuang Village Party Branch in the Baodugu Mountain area—and held meetings inside Ox Nose Cave. Chen Jiquan, the first Party branch secretary of Dabeizhuang, and four other comrades took their solemn oath of Party membership here. From then on, the spark of revolution quickly ignited in the mountains, and local people engaged in armed struggle, making immortal contributions to the revolutionary cause in southern Shandong.