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Yixing is on the west bank of Taihu Lake, fifty kilometers south of Changzhou. Hills and water accentuate the city?s landscape, and the hilly area to the southwest is studded with wonderful caverns. Pottery has been made here for five thousand years, achieving renown during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Still a major pottery-producing area, Yixing turns out more than 6,500 varieties of pottery including terracotta wares, for which it is famous.
Shanjuan Cave
If you go to Zhuling Village twenty-five kilometers southwest of Yixing, don?t fail to visit the Karst cave in Luoyang Hill; it is called the ?first historical site south of the Yangtze River.? This five thousand-square-meter cave has four layers, the lowest being an underground water way. The lower and water layers are the most fascinating of the four. The narrow lower cave, which contains a waterfall, is linked with the 120-meter-long water cave, where tourists can row along the winding underground stream. Some of the stalactites in the cave are seven meters long.
Zhanggong Caves
These caves, in Yufeng Hill some twenty-two kilometers southwest of Yixing, are named after Zhang Guolao, an elderly Taoist who once lived here. They consist of seventy-two smaller caves totaling a thousand meters in length and covering more than three thousand square meters. Over 1,500 hand-hewn steps lead from the bottom to the upper cave.
Linggu (Valley Spirit) Cave
The third largest cave of Yixing, with a total area of over 2,400 square meters and a total length of 347 meters, Linggu is located in the Yangmu Tea Farm six kilometers from Zhanggong Cave. Its five halls contain stalactites, stalagmites, stone flowers, and stone pillars, and many of its rocks are engraved with poems written by tourists of the Song, Ming, and Qing dynasties.
(china.org.cn)
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