National Parks of ChinaOverview
| Designation | National Park of China (second batch) |
| Province | Guizhou |
| Location | Guizhou |
| Latitude, longitude | 26.7, 105.9 Google Maps |
| Highlights | Cave |
| Area | 307 km² |
| Nearby cities | Guiyang, Chongqing, Chengdu, Kunming |
| Nearby sites | Huangguoshu Waterfall, Getu River Caves, Ziyun, Dragon Palace Caves, Chishui, Libo and the Zhangjiang River, Red Maple Lake |
| Themes | Caves, Karst |
About
Zhijin Cave lies in Zhijin County, Bijie, western Guizhou, 122 km from Anshun and 152 km from Guiyang; the 307 km² area includes the cave, the old town of Zhijin, the Hongjiadu plateau lake and the Luojie River. Its slogan: “after Huangshan you look at no other mountain; outside Zhijin Cave there is no other cave.”
The cave covers over 700,000 m², with 12 km developed; the widest span is 175 m, the height generally 60 to 100 m with a relative difference of over 150 m, and the deposits average about 40 m high, the tallest 70 m. More than 40 kinds of calcium carbonate formation are found, every type known in the world’s caves, composing scenes of great complexity. It is divided into 12 areas and 47 halls, among them the Welcome Hall, the Sutra Hall, the Longevity Palace, Wangshan Lake, the Moon Palace, the Lingxiao Hall, the Snow Fragrance Palace, the Pagoda Forest, the Hundred Thousand Mountains, the Water Country and the Golden Rat Palace.
The Moon Palace, one of the largest, is over 50,000 m². In its centre rises the “Suoluo Tree”, layered with stone lingzhi, also called Lingzhi Mountain; deep inside is the national treasure, the Silver Rain Tree, an extremely rare semi-transparent milky crystal formation like an opening flower, 17 m high in a white jade dish 2.4 m across, unmatched in the world. Nearby the Overlord’s Helmet, two halberd-shaped stalagmites growing from a round mound over 3 m across, the Mysterious Buddha, Chang’e Flying to the Moon, the Underground Star City and the Tropical Rainforest.
The Lingxiao Hall is among the most beautiful, with huge coloured curtains tens of metres wide hanging on both walls and dozens of snow-white dripstone groups: the Jade Emperor, the ornamental column, the crane, the jade dragon, the goddess and the snake.
The Snow Fragrance Palace, also the Crystal Palace, has white deposits throughout, with a stone bamboo garden and helictites. The Pagoda Forest cave has over a hundred travertine pagodas, with Snow on Green Pines, the Hanging Pipa, the Stone Drum, Jianmen Pass and the Shadow Spring.