Mysterious Grottoes of Flower Mountain

The Flower Mountain Enigma Grottoes, Huashan Miku, are located on the eastern outskirts of Tunxi City, in east China's Anhui Province. They are situated, like so many world-famous natural and manmade miracles including the Bermuda Triangle and the Great Pyramids, at about 30 degrees north latitude.

Also located near the spectacular Mount Huangshan, a popular tourist destination, it is no small miracle that the grottoes lay hidden for more than 2,000 years.

The Flower Mountain Grottoes were not naturally eroded by water, but are ancient man-made underground palaces. Some 36 grottoes have been located since they were first discovered in 1999, scattered among the mountains and riverbanks along a five-kilometer stretch of the Xin'an River. Camouflaged by the heavy forest growth in the area, even local forest rangers and herbal medicine collectors remained unaware of their existence.

But in the spring of 1999, a letter from a layperson triggered the commercial development of the Huashan area by the Huangshan municipal government. Surveys and excavations were conducted under the supervision of experts from Tsinghua University.

Workers and experts alike were shocked when the excavations revealed the largest grottoes ever found in China. The No. 2 and No. 35 grottoes, once cleared of 20,000 cubic meters of mud and rocks, were found to occupy some 17,400 square meters of floor space. More than 18,000 tons of water was pumped out of the No. 35 grotto in a 12-day period.

The No. 35 grotto is now open to visitors. It has 36 chambers surrounding a central hall and 26 stone pillars. Each pillar is more than ten meters high and nearly 10 meters in circumference. The irregular, multilevel chambers still show the aesthetic values of the people who built the caves: stone landings, pools, bridges and stairs, some still bearing recognizably manmade decorations, make up a mystical labyrinth.

In May 2001, former President Jiang Zemin visited the grottoes, exclaiming, "Wonderful, wonderful. This is a precious." Remarking that the grottoes are a riddle, he gave them their name.

In January 2002, Ambassador Wang Yingfan, China's representative to UN, visited the grottoes with his colleagues. He said that he believes the grottoes will become as famous as the Great Wall and the Terracotta Warriors when they are completely excavated and explored.

Like Egypt's Pyramids, the Flower Mountain Grottoes are a puzzle. Who made them? When? How were they made? Why are there no records of their existence? How did they remain hidden for so long?

Experts have been working on the site since the excavation began. In the process of clearing mud and sand from the caves, a number of ancient lamps were unearthed, together with a collection of glazed pottery that includes a jar, lid, bowl, crock and various fragments. They have been identified as having been made in the Jin Dynasty (AD 265 to 420). These, together with some of the other items found in the grottoes, lead experts to speculate that the caves were built during the Jin, or perhaps even earlier.

(China.org.cn April 12, 2004)