A unique underground gorge, formed anywhere from 65 million and 230 million years ago, has been discovered in Yishui county, east China's Shandong Province, according to a local source.
The subterranean gorge, located at the foot of Lianhua Mountain within the boundary of Yishui county, is 6,100 meters in length and up to 30 meters in height.
Local experts held that the gorge was shaped from a huge karst rift valley extending from the northwest to southeast. Inside the gorge there were vivid and elegant formations of stalactites and stalagmites and subterranean streams.
Local authorities have already mapped out a tourism development scheme for the gorge, which involves more than 160 scenes and attractive sites with an investment estimated at 80 million yuan (9.6 million US dollars).
A vessel for drifting on the 500-meter stream inside the gorge will also be developed, the local source said.
(Xinhua News Agency May 27, 2003)
