One of the places I visited during my recent trip to Yunnan is a place made famous by the martial arts romance writer Louis Cha aka Jin Yong (金鏞). It's the Cave of the Dragon of Heaven (天龍洞) .He wrote a martial arts romance called 天龍八部 which described the adventures of the King of Dali (大理國) surnamed Tuen (段.) who is supposed to be famous for his "Six-Vein Sword Style"(六脉神劍).. The limestone cave forms part of the range of 19 mountains called 蒼山 (Green Mountain) of an average height of about 3500 metres 7 of which are well above 4000 metres, with 18 mountain streams rushing down their valleys or ravines all running into largest fresh water lake in Yunnan, the Er Lake ( 洱海), the 7th largest in China. The highest peak of the Green Mountain is snow capped all the time. With ice water from the mountain cliffs, the Bai people would make a drink of black prune and honey. There is a poem about this by 楊升庵: “五月滇南烟景别，清凉國方里無煩熱，雙鶴橋邊人賣雪，冰碗啜 ，調梅點蜜和境琼屑”. The mountain is often circled by clouds below its peaks even in summer which the people call "jade belt clouds" (玉帶雲),and its appearance is thought to signal good harvest later in the year. There is a Bai tribe saying,"When the Jade Belt hangs around the Green Mountain, even hungry dogs can have white rice for food".
The Cave of the the Dragon of Heaven is located at about 2,400 metres on the peak called 雲弄峰 where I could have an excellent view of the Er Lake. We would first have to go down and then up again the 100 metre path inside the cave. It was a dark Cave part of which were lit by LED lights of lurid green, red and occasionally blue, done in rather poor taste, with scant regard for esthetics. Towards the end of the path up, one could see some stalagmites which with a great deal of imagination could be vaguely seen as 8 statues, the 八部 mentioned in the martial arts novel.
Some Bai teenagers, probably off duty cave guides bantering at the cable car station.
The cable car up the Green Mountain
A photo taken from the cable car. To the left is the Er Lake (洱海). All lakes in Yunnan are called "seas"(海)!
Another view of the surrounding countryside from the cable car
The mid-peak terminal of the cable cars.
This is a view of the Er Lake (Erhai) from the exit of the Cave
Some bamboo bells containing prayers for good fortune hung upon the eaves to the roof of the mountain paths leading back to the cable car station
This is a shed for a basket!
One of the lit hollows inside the Cave.
A crevice inside the Cave.
This view is called "Long wait through the waters of Autumn" (望穿秋水)
This one is called White Jade Room (白玉堂).
This one is called "The Crouching Lion"
This one is called the Pool of the Dragon of Heaven (天龍潭)
After having seen similar caves in Kweilin and Dan Ha Shan, this proves quite a big let down!
The lake and the clouds in the sky are beautiful indeed.
回覆刪除However, the cave seems to be much artificial.
[版主回覆02/03/2012 09:26:10]I like the clouds more than anything. You're right, the caves are decorated in a most gawdy and tasteless fashion. They are too "loud" and do not blend into the environment at all. A typical example of "more means less"!
Very beautiful :)
回覆刪除[版主回覆02/03/2012 09:26:49]Thank you. Glad you found them so.
I very much like the works of Jin Yong, they are in deed very romantic love stories. But they are too long, you need to have plenty of time. It is regrettable that I didn't read all his works, including 天龍八部!
回覆刪除[版主回覆02/03/2012 09:28:07]They're more than love stories. They're part history, part psychology and part artistic creation.
Interesting trip! Are you a fan of Jin Yong's novels too?
回覆刪除[版主回覆02/03/2012 09:51:30]I got short-sighted because of trying to read too many of his martial arts sagas during just one summer vacation!
good morning ! have a nice day !!
回覆刪除[版主回覆02/03/2012 23:59:55]Thank you. Hope you'd have one too.
喜歡坐吊車，不喜看溶洞．
回覆刪除[版主回覆02/04/2012 00:00:29]I feel the same way with regard to this particular cave.
原來 El Zorro 也是金鏞迷呢！
回覆刪除[pinkpanther501101回覆02/04/2012 20:50:05]I'm of a different opinion! The enthusiasm seems to be subsiding as many amongst the new generation of young people seem not his fans. The reason may be that you have to read quite a large part of the beginnings of his sagas to be hooked!
[版主回覆02/04/2012 00:01:36]It'll be difficult to find one who is not !