Dabeyan

Dabeyan is located beside Zhangjia Anzi on the side of Dabeyan in Kuangong Village, Puliqiao Town, at the original site of Zhangjia Temple, about 30 kilometers from the urban area. A stream in front of the village flows out from a valley 2 li to the west of the cave, forming a small brook that meanders gently past the village and then winds its way into the cave. There is a stone-built artillery platform, now partially ruined. The cave entrance is 12 meters wide and reaches a maximum height of 6.5 meters. The entrance is flat, and the stream flows into the left side of the cave about 100 meters in, where the water surface gradually widens to over 7 meters, forming a deep pool. The cavern can accommodate over a thousand people. Stalactites hang from the cave ceiling—some as fine as long needles, some thick as pillars, and others clustered like strings of pearls, all in bizarre and lifelike shapes. In the first year of the Hongwu era of the Ming Dynasty (1368), during a time of war, it served as a refuge for local residents. In 1944, when the Japanese army invaded the area, many local people also took shelter inside the cave. It is named after the locality.