Bandits' Cave

Bandits' Cave

Bazhai is located on the fringe of Danxia Mountain, a stronghold built by local people in cliffside caves halfway up the mountain to escape the turmoil of war during the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. Also known as the Bandits' Cave, it stands as a testament to a bygone era. Danxia Mountain is one of Guangdong’s Four Famous Mountains, situated 54 kilometers northeast of Shaoguan City. With an elevation of 408 meters, the mountain appears flushed with red hues from afar and reveals a riot of colors up close, with steep cliffs that look as if they were hewn with an axe, creating a truly spectacular landscape. Accessing Bazhai requires a strenuous two-hour trek carrying gear, traversing rugged terrain through six kilometers of Danxia landforms and peak forest zones. Along the way, you’ll witness classic karst landform features, scale a sheer cliff 15 meters high, and finally arrive at the site of the mountain stronghold situated halfway up the slope.

Venturing further into Bazhai, the mountain terrain grows even more precipitous and the scenery increasingly breathtaking. The only route up is a 15-meter-high suspended wooden path carved into the cliff face by bandits in ancient times—just wide enough for one person and designed to be easily defended and hard to attack, extremely treacherous indeed. In fact, the entire stronghold was carved out along the mountainside, forming a three-to-four-meter-wide pathway, with certain wider recessed areas that can still faintly be discerned as the living quarters of the former inhabitants. One side of the passage borders a sheer drop of thousands of feet, and in some spots, there’s barely a meter of space—lose your footing, and the outcome is inevitable: a fatal plunge.