Zhiyun Cave Scenic Area includes Zhiyun Cave, Xiaozhiyun Cave (Dieyunyan), Jibailong Cave, Pig Ear Cave, and Dagan Cave. It is a cave community mainly for the scenery of karst caves. It is located 6 kilometers northwest of the Major and Minor Stone Forests, Now three spots are open to the public: Zhiyun Cave, Xiaozhiyun Cave (Dieyunyan), and Jibailong Cave. Among these, Zhiyun Cave was the earliest one for the development - nearly 400 years ago. It was discovered by Wang Liang (another saying is Wang Liangming), Chief of Lunan during Wanli Period of the Ming Dynasty, who wrote inscription once the discovery and ordered people for repair.
The inscribed monument is still kept completely in the small cave on the right side of Zhiyun Cave as the earliest document recording the scenic attraction of Stone Forest, having high value for research. There is a replica of the monument in the entrance hall of Zhiyun Cave.
Zhiyun Cave is located in a large limestone mountain on the east side of Anshi Road, 6 kilometers northwest of the Major and Minor Stone Forests. It is 400 meters long, 2 to 15 meters wide, and 5 to 30 meters high, showing a Y shape with two sections linked by a low and narrow doorway. There are many cave landscapes inside, including stalactites, stalagmites, and stone pillars with various shapes. It has been called “fairy attraction” since Ming Dynasty with “Shidongxianzong” (stone cave for god) topping the eight scenes of Stone Forest.
From entrance to exit, there are altogether over 20 major spots, namely: Ganoderma, Jade elephant, Reverse rooster, Grape garden, Sitting Buddha, Limao Cave, Camel, Double lions, Monkey king, Dragon Palaces, Rising dragon, Jade tree, Taibaijinxing, Holy bull, Water Curtain Cave, Dragon vs. tiger, God of longevity with peach, and flooded Jinshan Temple, etc.
The road inside the cave is safe with good viewing angle and complete lighting equipment. Ventilation is good with smooth air, and rock walls are solid.
Recommended visiting time is an hour.
Jibailong Cave, located at the foot of Jibailong Mountain in Tianshengqiao Village, is 4 kilometers from the Major and Minor Stone Forests and 2 kilometers from Zhiyun Cave. It is 450 meters long, 10 to 20 meters high, and 5 to 10 meters wide. In addition to commonly seen stalagmites, stone pillars, and stalactites, there are also stone flowers, curved stones, calcite crystals, pebbles, and stone wells, etc. with special and beautiful shapes inside the cave. Different from other caves, this cave has smooth and transparent stones that are bright as crystal, looking pure white and beautiful under light. After joint investigation, cave experts from China and Slovenia acknowledged that such a small cave having wonderful and delicate calcium carbonate precipitation is very rare in the world.
Jibailong Cave has altogether 30 named spots including Greeting lantern, Milky way, Palace, Dragon protecting treasure, etc. Stones inside this cave have been well maintained because of late development and no destroy by human.
Recommended visiting time is an hour.
Xiaozhiyun Cave, also known as Dieyunyan, is located opposite to Zhiyun Cave with several hundreds of meters between them. It was open to the public from October 1, 1998. It is 200 meters long, 30 meters high at most, and 8 meters wide. The feature of this cave includes concentration of stalactites and stalagmites as well as steep twists and turns inside. There are 23 named scenic spots: Red lotus, Frog prince, Lotus princess, Daqingquan, Torch mountain, Dieyun peak, Killing dragon, Shell flower, Landslide, Reverse lotus, Red rocks, Jellyfish, Black valley, Hanged ghost, and Missing tears, etc.
Ticket office is on the west side of Anshi Road, dozens of meters from the entrance. Recommended visiting time is half an hour.
The above three caves all have their own features together with good conditions for lighting, ventilation, and safety inside. These caves are clustered and the traffic is convenient, close to the Major and Minor Stone Forests. Recommended visiting time for these three caves is four hours. There are small shops at the entrance of every cave, providing food and drink as well as souvenirs.
The temperature inside caves does not change much. The weather is warm in winter and cool in summer, but quite damp.
It is recommended that tourists visit this area first and then Major and Minor Stone Forests after visiting peak there. High-heel shoes are not recommended, and there is no need to prepare lighting and other equipment for adventure.