Dragon and Phoenix Karst Cave

　　Dragon and Phoenix Karst Cave is located in Pukou Township, 16 kilometers southwest of the county seat, on Chuan’yan Mountain in the middle section of Paiya Mountain, 1.5 kilometers from the road. It is a natural limestone karst cave. Above the cave entrance are four large characters “Long De Xian Tian” (“Dragon Virtue Innate”) inscribed by Gao Feng, the magistrate of Jingzhou during the Qing Dynasty’s Kangxi era. The cave entrance is over 20 meters wide and about 7 meters high. Inside the cave, there are two main branches. To the left of the entrance, a man-made stone staircase of over 70 steps, each about 1 meter wide, leads down to the cave floor. Along the northeastern wall of the cave, there is an underground river, about 3 meters wide, through which water from Yixi Stream flows year-round. The other branch extends to the right from the entrance. By climbing down the rock face, visitors can follow a winding path into the cave where stalagmites and stalactites take on a myriad of shapes—resembling arhats, dancing maidens, old men with long lives, bodhisattvas, as well as waterfalls, terraced fields, pagodas, and turtles or beasts. The “Sky-Supporting Pillar” stands tall reaching the heavens, the “Water Curtain Cave” is magical and spectacular, the “Carefree Maiden” stands gracefully, and the “Arhat Rock” always wears a smiling face—all leaving visitors dazzled.

　　

　　Source: Jingzhou Local Chronicles Office