Seven-star Cave () is an extensive limestone cave complex in
Seven-star Park, both of which are popular tourist attractions in the city of
Guilin
Guilin (Standard Zhuang: ''Gveilinz''; alternatively romanized as Kweilin) is a prefecture-level city in the northeast of China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. It is situated on the west bank of the Li River and borders Hunan to the nort ...
in
Guangxi Autonomous Region in
China. The name derives from the fact the main
karst limestone peaks form roughly the same pattern as the stars of the
Big Dipper
The Big Dipper ( US, Canada) or the Plough ( UK, Ireland) is a large asterism consisting of seven bright stars of the constellation Ursa Major; six of them are of second magnitude and one, Megrez (δ), of third magnitude. Four define a "bowl" ...
constellation. The earliest exploration of Seven-star Cave dates back to the
Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...
, about 1,300 years ago. The name can also be rendered Seven Stars Cave, Cave of Seven Stars, etc.
The cave has a year-round temperature of about 20 Celsius. The maximum ceiling height inside is 27 metres, and the maximum width is 49 metres. A concrete and stone tour path of approximately 1,000 metres runs through the cave between its entrance and exit points. Artificial lighting for walkways and displays is staged throughout, including colored accents, and various formations have been given names such as "A Natural Fresco" and "The Chessboard". During the Japanese invasion of China in World War II, Guilin residents took refuge in the cave complex.
The cave has scheduled tours about once per hour, conducted in
Mandarin Chinese
Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language ...
, usually with a megaphone irrespective of group size, explaining in detail the origins of various formation names, such as a dragon eating a bear, or a bear catching a tiger. The tour cannot easily be walked independently of groups, since the lights inside the cave are turned off behind the groups as they walk away. Signs are posted in both Chinese and English and takes typically 30–60 minutes.
Like most parks in Guilin, the cave complex maintains an entrance fee, costing 30 RMB beyond the basic park entrance fee of 75 RMB.
References
External links
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{{coord missing, Guangxi
Caves of Guangxi
Limestone caves
Karst formations of China
Show caves in China
Tourist attractions in Guangxi