At 9 a.m. the day before yesterday, Old Huang saw a group of seven people heading up the mountain from Hongling Village, Tuankou Town, Lin’an District, Hangzhou, to explore a large cave in Tianjingtang Mountain. By 8 p.m., they still hadn’t come down. Worried, Old Huang hurried up the mountain to the cave entrance, where he saw only ropes and no sign of the group. Could something have gone wrong?
After receiving the report, the Changhua Police Station in Lin’an organized personnel to search the mountain through deep snow. At 11 p.m., the ropes outside the cave moved, and the seven individuals climbed out one by one. By 3 a.m. yesterday, rescuers had escorted the entire exploration team back down the mountain.
Just one day inside the cave, but the outside world was in chaos over this group of seven.
A kind-hearted villager noticed
Backpackers vanished into the cave
The day before yesterday was the 16th day of the first lunar month. As dusk fell, Huang Zhinong from Hongling Village, Tuankou Town, Lin’an District, Hangzhou, felt more and more anxious sitting at home: the six men and one woman who had gone up the mountain that morning still hadn’t come down. Among them was a foreigner.
Old Huang’s home is right at the foot of Tianjingtang Mountain, which has a large cave. Previously, local villagers had climbed inside and descended over 600 meters without reaching the bottom.
Because of this large cave, hiking enthusiasts often come here to explore. This time, with the mountain still covered in snow, another group of adventurers arrived.
When Old Huang reached the cave entrance, he noticed the ropes left by the hikers were still there, which reassured him.
He shouted loudly into the cave entrance: “Is—any—body—in—there?”
The dark cave was like a silent monster, offering no echo in response to his calls.
It was also dark outside the cave, so Huang Zhinong had to hurry back down. Once home, he waited until 8 p.m. without seeing anyone emerge. Fearing something might have happened, he called 110: “There’s a group of hikers who haven’t come down, including a foreigner. Normally, hikers come down before dark. Could something be wrong?”
Upon hearing that seven explorers had entered the Hongling Cave and not come out, Deputy Chief Xu Xuehai of the Changhua Police Station also grew anxious.
These cave explorers hadn’t left any contact information before heading up the mountain, and there was no trace of them online, making their identities completely unknown.
All clues were limited to Old Huang’s eyewitness account—
At around 9 a.m. that day, Old Huang saw two cars arrive at the village entrance. From them emerged six men and one woman, one of whom was a foreigner.
“They were wearing hiking gear and each had a backpack—they must be here to explore the cave,” Old Huang said, regretting not stopping them as they walked past his home.
The road was covered in ice-slicked snow
Rescue team members moved with caution
With no other options, Xu Xuehai immediately organized officers Tang Fangxiong and Huang Yunsong from the station, along with auxiliary officers Zhang Yaming and Fang Jun, to gather flashlights, ropes, and ladder equipment. They also notified the Changhua fire brigade and local government to prepare for emergency rescue.
This rescue mission through the mountains was far more difficult than hiking, and it was at night.
The mountain road up to Hongling was covered in snow. Driving up in the pitch dark was truly a risky venture. What should have been a little over an hour’s drive took two hours, but the officers finally safely delivered both personnel and rescue gear to the mountain’s base.
The rescue team, consisting of police officers, firefighters, and local villagers, began climbing the mountain with their gear. By then, the snow had frozen into extremely slippery ice, and it was easy to fall with just a slight misstep. Several people nearly slipped and almost tumbled down the mountain as they ascended.
After reaching the mountaintop, they had to cross over the peak and climb further: the cave was on the other side of the summit. This section had no path at all—just dense thickets and steep cliffs nearby. One wrong step could send you tumbling down. It was truly a perilous journey, walking on the edge of danger.
Everyone shouted into the cave entrance, but there was still no response.
The team prepared themselves to stay awake and search the mountain all night.
André led the exploration team
They lost track of time inside the cave
Just then, at a little past 11 p.m., the rope at the cave entrance moved!
Gradually, a figure began to climb up out of the pitch-black cave.
The first one out was that “legendary foreigner”! He looked around at the people at the cave entrance with a puzzled expression, having no idea that everyone had been working hard on his behalf all day.
This foreigner spoke some basic Chinese. He told the police officers, “I’m Italian, my name is Andrea.” He said that the other six people inside the cave were all safe and were coming out one by one.
Hearing that everyone in the cave was safe, Deputy Chief Xu Xuehai, the police officers, firefighters, and local villagers finally breathed a sigh of relief.
The other six people from the cave emerged one by one. By this time, it was already the early hours of February 16. Seeing that they had alarmed so many people, they were all startled and repeatedly thanked and apologized to the rescue team: “We lost track of time, sorry for coming out so late!”
Snow pellets began to fall on the mountain as the rescue team escorted the group of explorers down the mountain at a slow pace.
By the time they reached the foot of the mountain, Xu Xuehai and the rescuers’ clothes were soaked both inside and out—inside from sweat during the effort, and outside from the rain mixed with snow.
It turned out that Andrea and the others all worked in Hangzhou and were good friends from the outdoor community.
Andrea and one of the team members had explored the Hongling Cave before. This time, they brought along five other friends, originally planning to explore all the way to the end before coming out. Unexpectedly, just one day inside the cave had caused a huge commotion in the outside world on their behalf.
“Go get cleaned up and get some sleep!” Xu Xuehai told the police officers and auxiliary officers who had come up the mountain with him, then collapsed onto the duty bed in the office, utterly exhausted.
The clock struck 3 a.m. At the same time, the seven caving adventurers had already been settled in a hotel in Changhua.