Longyin Valley Swallow Hole

　　   The swallow hole is situated in the Longyin Valley scenic area. It is said that after the Dragon Prince, angered, flooded the Menglai Gorge with water, the water level rose higher and higher, and when it reached this point, it could no longer drain away. Then this adorable and mischievous Dragon Prince decided to use this spot as his personal bathing and playing ground. But because he was having too much fun, he eventually caught a cold and sneezed—a tremendous, earth-shaking sneeze. To his utter surprise, that single sneeze ended up punching a hole right through the ground. The floodwaters rushed into the hole, and he was so startled that he quickly hid in a nearby karst cave about 100 meters ahead, where he dared not come out for seven whole days and nights. That cave came to be known as the Dragon-Hiding Cave. Later, when he noticed that everything around seemed calm, he returned to the swallow hole to investigate. To his amazement, he discovered that his sneeze had actually created a seven-kilometer-long underground river (you can see the exit of this underground river if you follow the road for seven kilometers). Overjoyed, he went back to the hole to splash around and play again. That’s why this swallow hole is also called the Dragon Palace, and the valley itself is named Longyin Valley, meaning “Valley Where the Dragon Is Hidden”—which is how the Longyin Valley scenic area got its name.