Blushing Spring

Blushing Spring

In the mountains of Chenjia Township on Longmen Mountain in Guangyuan County, Sichuan Province, there is a spring that retracts when vibrated—a phenomenon locals call the "Shrinking Water Spring." Simply toss a small stone into the spring, and influenced by the resulting sound and ripples, the water gradually recedes, the surface dropping as if a bashful girl seeing a stranger quickly ducks away in embarrassment. After a while, the water slowly begins to flow out again, growing from a thin stream to a stronger flow.

　According to an article titled “Blushing Spring” by Mei Zhengxing in the June 1982 issue of the magazine Earth about an unusual spring in the mountains of Chenjia Township, northeast of Longmen Mountain in Guangyuan City, Sichuan, “As soon as you throw a stone into the water, generating sound and vibration, the spring behaves like a shy girl, turning her head and hiding away.” It has thus been named the “Blushing Spring.”

In Chenjia Township within the district lies a spring resembling a bashful young girl with two tiny braids—whenever it hears people chatting and laughing, it “giggles” and ducks away, not daring to emerge for quite some time. Originally called “Shrinking Water Cave” or “Fairy Pool,” this spring was given the lovely name: Blushing Spring.

The spring gushes out from the cave. When visitors shout at the spring or strike objects, the startled water immediately churns and hurriedly retreats “into its boudoir,” leaving only traces of watermarks in the cave. After calmly waiting for two minutes, the spring cautiously pokes its head out again. Sometimes, the more curious onlookers shout repeatedly, causing this shy spring to disappear and reappear again and again, as if puzzled by what’s happening in the world. Legend has it that long ago, the Anle River was called the Black River, and a vicious black dragon lived in it, causing trouble alongside another evil dragon from the Chaotian Longmen Cave. Public outrage reached the heavens, prompting the Jade Emperor to send seven fairies down to subdue the wicked dragons. Since then, the Black River has had mirror-like waters, and the people have lived in peace and prosperity. To bathe and cleanse themselves, the fairies created a pool in the Boshan Gorge. To prevent peeping, they blocked the pool with thin stone slabs. When the fairies bathed and played, the pool overflowed, but the moment it heard any sound, it would become still and the water would recede. The phenomenon of the Blushing Spring is due to the countless microscopic pores and fissures between rocks acting like tiny capillaries that draw groundwater up to the surface where it gathers as a spring. When sound-induced vibrations create pressure, the water is pushed back down. Once the noise stops and the pressure is gone, the water flows out again. Scientific Explanation—Memories of Blushing Spring: Because the Blushing Spring is located in a remote rural area and transportation used to be poor, no photos were taken before road construction led to its abandonment. In the older version of the Guangyuan County Annals, journalists found a “portrait description” of it: On the opposite side of Yinguang Rock, three li from Chenjiaba in Chaotian, in the crevices of the steep cliffs is a spring, its waters cool and refreshing, flowing two or three zhang (approx. 6–9 meters) before joining the Anle River. The spring never dries up year-round but alternates between swelling and receding. When passersby cough or shout, the spring recedes; once it’s quiet, the water flows again as before... Geologists who studied the site concluded that it is the result of unique hydrogeological conditions. The spring mainly lies in carbonate rock formations that are easily eroded by water. The rocks, under pressure, developed many cracks. Rainwater and surface water seep into these cracks, accumulate in a large underground reservoir, and then discharge through a siphon-like eroded conduit. The discharge is irregular due to uneven rainfall recharge, leading to intermittent flow. Therefore, the “Blushing Spring” is actually a type of intermittent spring. However, due to road construction, the spring’s water supply system was damaged, and sometimes it only flows when stimulated by sound vibrations.