Haidian Gorge

　　Haidian Gorge lies to the east of Nanping Mountain and borders Kang Le County to the south, over 30 kilometers from the county seat. The cliffs on both sides of the gorge rise thousands of feet high, and the mouth of the gorge winds like a silvery serpent. The Tao River surges with tremendous force, like the rumble of thunder. The area is rich in water resources, forests, and coal. Qing Dynasty poet Wu Zhen once wrote, “I recall the beauty of Lintao, where emerald waters flow from the southern city; cliffs soar with towering rocks, and gorges part to reveal the forest...” Hence, Haidian Gorge is also known as Suolin Gorge (Locking the Forest Gorge).

　　　 In modern times, Wang Xizhi’s *Lintao Golden Lock Record* briefly mentions that on the eastern cliff inside the gorge, there are the two characters “摩崖” (cliff inscription) and twelve characters reading “Completed on the 27th day of the 12th month of the fourth year of Shaosheng,” arranged in two lines. Below them are inscriptions by Wang Cun and Wang An, about five inches in size, all in regular script. The first volume of the prefectural records states, “Nowadays, there are ancient seal characters on the gorge, said to have been engraved during the Song and Jin dynasties.” On the eastern cliff inside the gorge, there are many square holes, five or six inches in diameter, which were once used to construct a pathway for transportation. The Haidian Gorge Coal Mine is located here, covering an area of approximately 40 hectares, with coal seams over one meter thick. Currently, on the cliff face about one meter above the water level inside the gorge, there remains a stone inscription titled *Record of the Opening of the Coal Mountain*, written by Yang Jisheng. It stands about two meters tall, written entirely in regular script, and is well preserved.

　　　 Observing the Tao River Pearl Flow here is even more captivating. The Tao River Pearl Flow is a unique spectacle of the Tao River and can be considered a marvel under heaven. Due to the steep and rugged rocks upstream and the significant drop in elevation, during the bitter cold of winter, water droplets splashing from the river freeze into ice pearls that float on the water's surface. Every winter, as the northern landscape is blanketed in white, the ceaseless rush of the Tao River flows thousands of miles downstream. Clusters of glistening, translucent pearls tumble magnificently along the waves. Especially on winter mornings, as the sun rises in the east and the sky glows with dawn’s hues, the pearls are bathed in a fiery glow, becoming even more stunning and majestic.