Tourists, music lovers find treasures in Asia's longest cave

A concert is held in a karst cave in Suiyang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, May 4, 2023. (Xinhua)

GUIYANG, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Amid the heat of summer, Asia's longest cave, with its pleasantly cool temperatures and awesome acoustics, has become a top choice for music lovers, not to mention thousands of adventure-seeking tourists.

Shuanghe Cave, with a total length of 257.4 km, is located in a tourist resort called Twelve Back in Suiyang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province.

During the May Day holiday, the resort held a six-day music festival featuring concerts, rock and roll performances and symphonies, helping attract 38,000 visitors and music enthusiasts.

Following the event, the resort has seen a larger tourist flow, receiving some 1,200 to 1,500 visitors daily, said Yi Chuanbo, a manager of the resort.

Yi added that tourists have been given access to a 4.8-km stretch of Shuanghe Cave that takes about two hours to walk.

Tourists explore a karst cave in Suiyang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, May 17, 2023. (Xinhua/Liu Xu)

Combining the karst cave resources with activities including research and study trips, team building, camping, and music and poetry festivals, the resort has attracted an increasing number of tourists.

At the entrance of Shuanghe Cave, a research and study team consisting of around 100 students gathered together, having just finished their visit.

"Through the trip, I've learned a lot of geographic knowledge and witnessed the splendor and beauty of the karst landscape," said Long Sicheng, a fifth-grader from Meitan County.

The resort has added a range of new activities, including cave camping, abseiling and via ferrata, to meet the diverse and individual needs of tourists.

Tourists explore a karst cave in Suiyang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, May 17, 2023. (Xinhua/Liu Xu)

"In the past, tourists only toured around for the day before leaving. Now many prefer to stay over," said Luo Jianjun, office director of the resort.

Luo also said the resort has organized multiple poetry events and is a creation base for the World Congress of Poets.

Jiang Wei, a caving coach, said that Shuanghe Cave has four layers, with eight main caves and over 200 branch caves.

"The structure of caves situated within caves has drawn enthusiastic cavers," said Jiang, adding that up to 60 coaches like him are needed during the peak period to guide and coach those in search of a cave adventure.

Tourists attend a training session before exploring a karst cave in Suiyang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, May 17, 2023. (Xinhua/Liu Xu)

Li Yun, deputy chief of Suiyang's bureau of culture and tourism, said that the county intends to foster new forms of tourism in combination with the cave culture, such as "cave+music," "cave+adventure" and "cave+sports," to promote the high-quality development of the tourism industry.