Zhijin Cave is a karst

KARST

Kilometer-square Area Radio Synthesis Telescope is a Chinese telescope project to which FAST is a forerunner. KARST is a set of large spherical reflectors on karst landforms, which are bowlshaped limestone sinkholes named after the Kras region in Slovenia and Northern Italy. It will consist of...

 cave located in Minzhai Village (民寨乡), Zhijin County

Zhijin County

Zhijin County is a county-level administrative district in southwestern China, part of the Bijie Prefecture within the Guizhou province.-History:...

, Guizhou Province, People's Republic of China. An important tourism area, the site lies 23 kilometres (14.3 mi) northeast of the county town and 166 kilometres (103.1 mi) from the provincial capital, Guiyang

Guiyang

Guiyang is the capital of Guizhou province of Southwest China. It is located in the centre of the province, situated on the east of the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau, and on the north bank of the Nanming River, a branch of the Wu River. The city has an elevation of about 1,100 meters...

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Description

Originally called the Daji Cave (打鸡洞), it was discovered in 1980 by the Zhijin County Tourism Resources Exploration Team. Split into three layers, the cave extends for some 13.5 kilometres (8.4 mi) over a total area of 7 square kilometres (2.7 sq mi) and is believed to possess the largest unsupported roof span of any cave worldwide. More than 120 different crystalline formations are found in the cave's interior along with stalactites and the "Silver Rain Tree" (银雨树), a 17 metres (55.8 ft) tall rare flower-like transparent crystal.

The surrounding area, known as the Guizhou Zhijin Cave Scenic Area (贵州织金洞风景区), was made a national level tourist site by the Chinese State Council in 1988. Other attractions here spread over an area of 307 square kilometres (118.5 sq mi) and includes Zhijin Old Town (织金古城区) as well as Luojie River Scenic Area (裸结河景区).