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Sinkholes in China's Guangxi province have become a tourist attraction
The couple stands at the edge of the limestone cliff.
More than 100 meters (328 feet) below lies a lost world of forests, ancient plants and animals. All they can see are the tops of the leafy trees and hear the echoes of cicadas and birds bouncing off the cliffs.
For thousands of years, this “heavenly chasm” or “tiankeng”, in Mandarin, was unexplored.
People feared the demons and ghosts hidden in the mists that swirled from the depths.
But drones and a few brave souls who have descended into places untouched since dinosaurs roamed the Earth have revealed new treasures and turned China's sinkholes into a tourist attraction.
Two-thirds of the world's more than 300 sinkholes are in China, scattered across the country's west. With 30 known tiankeng, the southern province of Guangxi has more than anywhere else. Its largest and most recent discovery was two years ago: an ancient forest with trees up to 40 m tall. These cavities in the earth trap time and preserve unique and delicate ecosystems for centuries. Their discovery, however, is beginning to attract tourists and promoters, raising fears that these incredible and rare finds will be lost forever.
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Rui and Michael before their trip into the chasm
Off the cliff
“I’ve never done this kind of thing before,” says Rui, 25, staring into the abyss. “It’s very cool. It will be the first time but not the last time.
She takes a deep breath. Then she and her boyfriend step back – off the edge and into the air.
Fei Ge – the man who had just meticulously checked Rui and Michael's harnesses before sending them over the cliff – knows better than anyone the feeling of going backwards over the edge.
He was one of the first explorers. Now in his fifties, he works as a tour guide, helping people discover the secrets of Guangxi's sinkholes.
Growing up in a nearby village, Fe was told to stay away. “We believed that if humans entered the chasms, the demons would bring strong winds and heavy rain. We thought ghosts brought mist and fog.
Fei Ge – or Brother Fei as he is known – learned that these sinkholes have their own microclimate. The wind rushes through the tunnels and the water evaporated from the rivers inside the caves produces the mist.
Xiqing Wang/BBC
It's the only way to access a chasm…
Xiqing Wang/BBC
But once you arrive at the bottom, a forest awaits you
Eventually, Brother Fei's curiosity got the best of him and he found his way to a chasm as a child.
“Every little stone caused loud noises and echoes,” he said. There was wind, rain and even “mini tornadoes,” he remembers. “At first we were afraid. »
But he continued to explore. It was only when he brought scientists to the site that he realized how unique these sinkholes were.
“The experts were amazed. They discovered new plants and told us they had been researching for decades and had never seen these species. They were very excited. We couldn't believe that something we took for granted nearby was such a treasure.
As scientists published their findings in journals and their discovery spread, others came to study sinkholes. Fei says explorers from the United Kingdom, France and Germany have come over the past 10 years.
Xiqing Wang/BBC
Brother Fei, now a seasoned sinkhole guide, avoided caves as a child
Sinkholes are rare. China – and Guangxi in particular – has so many of them due to the abundance of limestone. When an underground river slowly dissolves the surrounding limestone rock, it creates a cave that extends toward the ground.
Eventually, the ground collapses, leaving a gaping hole. Its depth and width must measure at least 100 m for it to be qualified as a chasm. Some, like the one discovered in Guangxi in 2022, are much larger, spanning 300m deep and 150m wide.
For scientists, these cavernous pits are a journey back in time, to a place where they can study animals and plants they thought were extinct. They also discovered species they had never seen or known about, including types of wild orchids, ghostly white cavefish, and various spiders and snails.
Protected by steep cliffs, jagged mountains, and limestone caves, these plants and animals thrived deep within the earth.
In the cave
There is a cry of joy as Rui swings through the air, before beginning to rappel down.
This is just the beginning of the adventure for her and Michael. They still have some rope work to do, in the belly of the cave.
After a short walk through a maze of stalactites, Michael is plunged into darkness. Guides sweep the area with torches, illuminating the arc above us – a network of caves – then direct the light down to the narrow passages below, where a river once carved through the rock.
This is where we are heading. The guides have to work hard to put the ropes in place.
“I’m not a person who exercises a lot,” Michael says, his words echoing through the cave.
It's the highlight of the couple's two-week vacation from Shanghai to Guangxi, the kind of vacation they had dreamed of during China's long Covid lockdowns. “This type of tourism is becoming more and more widespread on the Chinese Internet,” he says. “We saw it and thought it looked pretty cool. That's why we wanted to try it.
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Tourists descend further into the cave
Videos of Guangxi sinkholes have gone viral on social media. What is a fun and daring feat for young people is a much-needed source of income in a province just emerging from poverty.
There is little agricultural land in Guangxi's unusual but beautiful terrain, and its mountainous borders make trade with the rest of China and neighboring Vietnam difficult.
Still, people come for the view. The pristine rivers and karst peaks of Guilin and Yangshuo in the north attract more than a million Chinese tourists each year. Photographs of mist-covered Guangxi even appeared on the 20 yuan note.
Yet few people have heard of Ping'e Village, the closest village to the sinkholes. But this is changing.
Brother Fei says a steady stream of visitors is changing the fortunes of some in Ping'e. “Before, it was very poor. We began to develop tourism and this brought many benefits. Like when the highways were built. We were really happy to know that we had something so valuable here.
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The famous limestone hills of Guangxi covered in mist
But some fear that tourism revenues will outweigh the demands of scientific research.
About 50 km from Ping'e, developers have built what they say is the highest viewing platform, which overlooks Dashiwei, the world's second-deepest sinkhole. Tourists can look 500 m deep into this “paradise chasm”.
“We should better protect these habitats,” says Dr. Lina Shen, a leading sinkhole researcher based in China. “Sinkholes are havens for many rare and endangered plant species. We continue to make new discoveries.
By studying sinkholes, scientists also hope to discover how the Earth has changed over tens of thousands of years and better understand the impact of climate change. At least one sinkhole in Guangxi has already been closed to tourists to protect unique varieties of orchids.
New Bowen @AUPH
Dashiwei viewing platform claims to be the highest in the world
“Overdevelopment could cause enormous damage. We need to maintain their original ecological state,” says Dr Shen, adding that the solution lies in finding a balance.
“Hot air balloons, drones for aerial photography and appropriate remote viewing routes could allow tourists to observe sinkholes up close as well as from afar, while disturbing as few organisms as possible.”
Brother Fei doesn't disagree and insists there are “clear rules” to protect sinkholes and what they contain. For him, it was a precious find that changed his life. Today he is one of the most skilled mountaineers in Guangxi and a renowned guide to tourists and scientists, which makes him “very happy.”
As we pass through acres of lush forest inside the chasm, he points out a cliff above us. He tells us to come back when it rains to see the waterfalls cascading down the side. It’s worth coming back, he assures us.
Rui and Michael are roped together as they encourage each other to rappel further into the cave. Below them, all we see is a narrow chasm, lit by a torch. It is all that remains of the bed of a river, the catalyst for the formation of this chasm.
“We need to balance this joy with protecting this place,” Michael said, looking around.
He smiles as he slowly descends and disappears into the cave.
