Reed Flute Cave

Location: No.1 Reed Flute Road, Xiufeng District, Guilin, Guangxi Province, China

Reason to visit: "the Palace of Natural Arts", the landmark and tourist attraction in Guilin

Our ratings: ★★★★★

Entrance fee: 1. CNY 90

                       2. CNY45 for children from 1.2 meters (3.9 ft) to 1.4 meters tall (4.6 ft)

                       3. Free for children under 1.2 meters

Opening Hours: Apr. to Nov.: 7:30-18:00

                            Dec. to Mar.: 08:00 to 17:30

The Reed Flute Cave, also known as "the Palace of Natural Arts", is a landmark and tourist attraction in Guilin, Guangxi, China. The Reed Flute Cave is located in the Guangming Hill in the northwestern outskirts of Guilin. It is a natural limestone cave with multicolored lighting and has been one of Guilin's most interesting attractions for over 1200 years. It is over 180 million years old. The cave got its name from the type of reed growing outside, which can be made into flutes. It is an amazing fairyland of exquisite stalagmites, stone milk, stone pillars, stone sarcophagi, and other rock formations in different shapes and colors which makes tourists dazzle, like a wonderland, and is known as "the palace of nature's art". Since the Tang Dynasty, there have been traces of tourists in the past dynasties.

How was the Reed Flute Cave Formed?

The Reed Flute Cave is so rare and elegantly beautiful, and the shape is so strange, how was it formed?

1 million years ago, Reed Flute Cave was originally an ancient underground lake. Due to the movement of the earth's crust, the mountain was lifted, the groundwater level dropped, and the underground lake became a cave.

Later, the groundwater flows along many broken belts in the mountain, dissolving the calcium carbonate in the rock. When the groundwater in which the calcium carbonate is dissolved flows from the rock gap into the hole, due to the water environment (temperature, pressure, microorganisms, etc.) The change causes CO2 to escape, so the calcium carbonate in the aqueous solution precipitates and crystallizes. After nearly a million years of accumulation, it forms stalactites, flowing stones, stone terraces, etc., and stalactites are the main part of the cave.

The water droplets on the top of the cave are falling, and during the falling process, CO2 is further lost, so it will continue to deposit when it falls to the bottom of the cave. Such sediments correspond to the stalactites and grow up from the bottom of the cave, called stalagmite. The shape of the stalagmites is governed by various factors such as the chemical nature of the water droplets, the amount of dissolved matter, the distance of the drop, the frequency of dripping, and the air flow. Therefore, the shape is also colorful.

What to see at the Reed Flute Cave?

Lion Hill and Morning Glow

Shown in front of us is a magnificent picture made up of many stalactites: tall mountains, dense forests, and dense old trees. Whenever the sun rises, there are groups of lions dancing in the forest in the face of the sun, making the whole forest full of vitality.

These mountains, ancient trees, and lions are stalactites formed by dripping water from the top of the cave. Water containing calcium ions drip from the cracks. After tens of thousands of years and hundreds of thousands of years of accumulation, they crystallize into stalactites hanging from the top of the cave. Water droplets reached the ground, forming stalagmites that grew from bottom to top; after a long period of time, stalagmites and stalactites joined to form a stone pillar. This type of stalactite formed by dripping water is called a secondary chemical deposit of drip stone. As long as there is dripping activity, stalactites will continue to grow.

Crystal Palace

This is the widest place of Reed Flute, the widest place is 93 meters, the highest place is 18 meters, a huge palace lantern is hung on the upper left side of the hall, and the whole hall is dyed with a magical color. It seems to be the Crystal Palace of the East Sea Dragon King in the mythology. Walking into this hall, everyone must have the feeling that why is it so flat and empty, there are no dense stalactites? There are two reasons: First, the rock formation here is gentle. The lake in the ancient underground lake has dissolved the whole layer of rock along the rock formation, leaving the level flat and complete, which is the hall. Second, because the rock at the top of the cave is relatively complete, the crack is small, the water can not penetrate, so the stalactites are also less. The bottom of the hole is more flat and wide.

How to Get to the Reed Flute Cave?

1. Take city bus 3, 58, 13 and get off at Reed Flute Cave Station. 

2. Take City Sightseeing Bus to get there. Its running route is Elephant Trunk Hill - Seven Star Park - Wave Subduing Hill - Folded Brocade Hill - Reed Flute Cave. It departs from 10:00 to 15:30 with an interval of 30 minutes.