Asia's longest cave a sound, sporty option for summer vacationists

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

The Shuanghe Cave, which extends for 257.4 kilometers, is located in a tourist resort called Twelve Back in Suiyang county, Guizhou province.

During the May Day holiday, it held a six-day music festival featuring concerts, rock performances and symphonies that attracted 38,000 music lovers.

Since the event, the flow of tourists to the resort has increased to some 1,200 to 1,500 visitors daily, according to Yi Chuanbo, a manager at the resort.

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

By combining visits to the cave with activities like research and study trips, team-building, camping and music and poetry festivals, the resort is attracting an increasing number of tourists.

At the entrance of the cave, a research and study team of around 100 students gathered after finishing their visit.

"On this trip, I've learned a lot about geography and have experienced the splendor and beauty of karst landscapes," said Long Sicheng, a fifth-grader from Meitan county, Guizhou.

The resort has added a range of new activities, including cave camping and rappelling, to appeal to different kinds of tourists. "In the past, visitors only toured for the day before leaving, but now many prefer to stay over," said Luo Jianjun, office director of the resort.

Luo also said that the resort has organized a number of poetry events and is a creation retreat for the World Congress of Poets.

Jiang Wei, who teaches caving, said that Shuanghe has four layers, with eight main caves and over 200 branch caves.

"Its structure of caves situated within caves draws enthusiastic cavers," said Jiang, adding that up to 60 instructors like himself are needed during peak periods to cater to those in search of a cave adventure.

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 cave culture, including "cave+music", "cave+adventure" and "cave+sports", to promote development of the local tourism industry.