View 2 in Snowy Jade Cave, Fengdu County

Stalactites at Snowy Jade Cave, Fengdu County

Snowy Jade Cave (a.k.a. Snow Jade Cave or Xueyu Cave, ) is a National

Three Gorges The Three Gorges () are three adjacent gorges along the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, in the hinterland of the People's Republic of China. With a subtropical monsoon climate, they are known for their scenery. The "Three Gorges Scenic A ...

Scenic Area and a National 4A Scenic Area located in

Fengdu County Fengdu County (; formerly ) is a county located in Chongqing Municipality, People's Republic of China. The county was established as Fengdu County () during the Sui Dynasty. The name was changed to Fengdu County () during the Ming Dynasty. In 195 ...

, Chongqing Municipality,

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

, not far from the

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...

Description

The cave's interior is China's only pure-white,

jade Jade is a mineral used as jewellery or for ornaments. It is typically green, although may be yellow or white. Jade can refer to either of two different silicate minerals: nephrite (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in the amphibole group ...

-like example. It continues to expand due to erosion in the surrounding

karst Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, Dolomite (rock), dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathe ...

landscape. long, of which have been explored, Snowy Jade Cave is spread over three levels. Inside, both the Stone King's Flag () and the high Stone King's Shield () features are the largest of their type in the world. There are also numerous examples of

coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and se ...

s. The surrounding area is also home to rare animal species including

macaque The macaques () constitute a genus (''Macaca'') of gregarious Old World monkeys of the subfamily Cercopithecinae. The 23 species of macaques inhabit ranges throughout Asia, North Africa, and (in one instance) Gibraltar. Macaques are principall ...

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species i ...

, and

golden pheasant The golden pheasant (''Chrysolophus pictus''), also known as the Chinese pheasant, and rainbow pheasant, is a gamebird of the order Galliformes (gallinaceous birds) and the family Phasianidae (pheasants). The genus name is from Ancient Greek ...

References

External links

Photograph of Stone King's Flag (石旗王)
{{coord, 29.7827, N, 107.7981, E, type:landmark_region:CN-50_source:Gaode, format=dms, display=t Caves of Chongqing Karst caves Karst formations of China Tourist attractions in Chongqing AAAA-rated tourist attractions Year of establishment missing

Description

See also

References

External links