Jiudongtian Scenic Area (jiǔ dòng tiān fēng jǐng qū 九洞天风景区) is located at Dafang County (dà fāng xiàn 大方县), Bijie City (bì jiē shì 毕节市) of Guizhou Province (guì zhōu shěng 贵州省). It covers an area of 80 square kilometers. In the scenic area, it is neither hot in summer nor cold in winter. The vegetations there are green all the year around. Because there are nine branch caves in the area, hence the name Jiudongtian. Jiudongtian Scenic Area is crowned as the Encyclopedia of Karst in China (zhōng guó yán róng bǎi kē quán shū 中国岩溶百科全书) and the Karst Geological Museum (kā sī tè dì zhì bó wù guǎn 喀斯特地质博物馆).

The first cave is a dry cave, called Yuegongtian (yuè gōng tiān 月宫天), means moon palace. It is the entrance of the cave. Covering an area of more than 3000 square meters, there is a great variety of stalactites hanging on the ceiling of the cave.

The second cave is called Leitingtian (léi tíng tiān 雷霆天), means thunderclap. Every April, in a rainy afternoon, there are tens of thousands moth and butterflies flying to the cave and hatching on the stones. In the next day, the stone is like a colorful flower. And they always disappear around the Dragon Festival, which is on the fifth day of May in the Chinese lunar year. People call it Stone Flower. And there is a local custom for the people to watch this phenomenon.

Jinguangtian (jīn guāng tiān 金光天) is the third cave, which means golden light. The cave is high and wide, with zigzag and tranquil passage. The wall on the left of the cave is extremely smooth, as if it was cut by the knife or the ax. While on the right wall, there are colorful stalactites.

The fourth cave is made up of some caves, called Yuyutian (yù yǔ tiān 玉宇天), means the beautiful palace. Some of the stalactites in the cave are like pagodas; some are like palace, like translucent jade bracelet, vivid and true to life.

The fifth cave is called Hulutian (hú lú tiān 葫芦天), because there is a underground lake in a calabash shape. The sixth cave is called Xiangwangtian (xiàng wáng tiān 象王天). It is a cave under a natural bridge, which is about 100 meters high above the ground. The seventh cave "Yunxiaotian”(yún xiāo tiān 云霄天). There are thousands of holes in the cave, and all of them are connected with each other. This cave can hold thousands of people.

The eighth cave is called Baozangtian (bǎo zàng tiān 宝藏天), which means treasure. The entrance of the cave is only 2 or 3 meters wide, but it is tens of meters high. The sunlight makes the color of the water in the cave changeable.

Daguantian (dà guān tiān 大观天) is the ninth cave, and it was called Xianren Cave (xiān rén dòng 仙人洞) among the people. There is a natural bridge, which is more than 100 meters wide and spanning nearly 100 meters. The bridge deck can hold over 1000 tourist, which is the No. 1 in China. Under the bridge, many streams gather together, flowing through the bridge. On the water, there is a stone square, which is also formed naturally, can hold thousand people. Standing on the bridge, the misty fog made the cave boundless.

Jiudongtian Scenic Area
Location: 54 kilometers away from Dafang County
Admission fee: CNY 100
Opening hours: 8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Transportation: you can take a bus at Guiyang to Bijie City or to Dafang County, both there are buses can take you to Maochang Town (māo chǎng zhèn 猫场镇). Then you can take a minibus to Jiudongtian Scenic Area.
Attractions nearby: Zhijin Cave