My 21 days Overland Border Crossing Train Rides from Malaysia > Thailand > Laos > China (Feb 10 > March 2 2025) - Kunming, China Feb 28 2025 (Day 19, - Jiuxiang) Part 2

Jiuxiang Scenic Area, Yiliang
Yunnan, China

 

Good Friday Feb 28 2025 (Day 19 - Jiuxiang Scenic Area) Part 2 - an impromptu visit (timing, location & public transport were on our adverse side, a fiasco in the making) proposed by one of our team members after our group's visit to Stone Forest (08.15 > 14.30); my 2nd visit to Jiuxiang Caves (my first visit was in 2019), important to book a private vehicle in advance prior to buying the entry tickets if visiting in the late afternoon (16.00) as this touristy place is rather remote (90km) from Kunming city, fortunately the Didi driver we e-hailed from Stone Forest to Jiuxiang before dropping us off provided his phone contact or else our group could get stranded when nightfall & put everybody in a difficult spot !), public transport is difficult to come by in this isolated area ! Our group exited the Scenic Area at 19.30 & returned to Kunming city close to 21.30 ! If you are aiming to visit both Stone Forest & Jiuxiang in a day, I suggest you book a private taxi or join a day tour covering both these places (the safest bet) ! A Good Friday could overnight become a Black Monday if we do not read the reality & situation on the ground at the time of the visit & making decision in a haste ! 

Ground Transport: 

1. Stone Forest > Jiuxiang Scenic Area (approx 40km, 45mins) - Didi CNY 90 @ CNY22.50 (cost sharing of 4) 
2. Jiuxiang Scenic Area > Kunming City (approx 95km, 1.5hr)  - Didi CNY 280 + Tip CNY20 = CNY300 @ CNY75 (cost sharing of 4)
3. Entrance fee: CNY150 per pax (Concession price + return cable car ride + boat + Buggy); Local Guide fee: CNY160 (a treat from Kuen Chen / Kam Ying) 
4. Food: CNY10

1) Yilang Jiuxiang Scenic Area, Kunming, Yunnan, China - Jiuxiang Cave is a national scenic spot & historical site which earned the name as the " Museum of Karst Caves ", more than 100 caves formed million years ago & is the largest cave group system in China. Located 40km from Stone Forest & 90km from Kunming city. 

2) The start of our group's entry to the Jiuxiang Scenic Area led by a local guide (CNY160 fee) passing a vast tract of rapeseed farmland & a short walk to the main cable car complex. 

3) The start of our cable car ride to the Jiuxiang Scenic Area 

4) Scenic landscape (yellow soil fields, rapeseed farms & wheat fields, country villages, stone strips / fields, fresh water lakes etc) as viewed from the cable car ride ascending & descending towards the Jiuxiang Scenic Area

5) Arriving at the Wheatfield Cableway Wheatfield River Station for a boat ride. 

6) The start of our boat ride from Maitian River Pier to Jiuxiang Caves

7) The start of our guided walk to Jiuxiang Caves (1 hour) - the highlights of the cave visit are Terrifying Gorge (Jinghua Xia), Green Shady Valley (Yin Cui Xia), Bat Cave (Bianfu Dong), Lying Dragon Cave & Twin Waterfalls (Wolong Dong) & Male Lion Hall (Xiongshi Ting); just lend your ears to the local guide, you will see these sights as you move along ....... happy treasure hunt if you are visiting this large karst cave on a DIY (Do It Yourself) without a local guide !   

8) Continuing our guided walk towards the Diehong Bridge Pier to take a boat ride to the Jiuxiang Caves interior. 

9) Passing the Yincui Gorge

10) In Nov 2019, this tall lift was the starting point of my Jiuxiang Caves visit with over 20 of my package tour members, the lift took us down to a walking corridor heading towards the Fairy Vale underground canyon via a natural bridge. 

11) After the boat ride, the start of our walk towards Fairy Vale & Grand Lion Hall direction - the best of our sightseeing of Jiuxiang caves is yet to come ! 

12) Colorful lighting of Jiuxiang Caves interior 

Stromatolite

13) Great Lion Hall - how nice to bring my pyjama, a collapsible bed & a bottle of Iceberg mineral water & take a two hour nap or in deep slumber here enjoying the windy cool mountain air & waking up fresh & full of energy (forget about the roar of a lion to wake you up !) 

14) Moving on, downhill & uphill walk from one cave to another - one could easily get lost in the cave interior without a local guide (Guide fee CNY160) to lead & move from one cave to another ! 

15) Vortex Pothole

16) Diehong Bridge

17) Rimstone Dam (low lying flat fields with curbs)

18) Pit (Vertical Passage)

19) Twin Waterfalls (30 meter high)

Twin Waterfalls

20) Divine Field along the gradual slope (Scientific name is Rimstone Dam)

Divine Field

21) Duxiu Peak (5.4m high, developed from falling rock)

Duxiu Peak

22) Keep going, more karst caves, stalactite, stalagmites, underground caves, rock pillars, waterfalls, colorful lighting greeting you along the way ....... 

Crocodile Slate

Kiss of Billion Years

Yi Ethnic Village

Rock Grapes

Bending Stalagmites 

Argillaceous Speleal Sediment

Fissure Cave

23) Exiting the Jiuxiang Caves - after two visits (2019 & 2025) to Jiuxiang Scenic Area, I am glad that I had left behind my footprints in Jiuxiang Caves; needless to say based on the information one gathered from the signage, one could gained a better understanding of this karst cave system in China ! By the time the buggy dropped us off at the Jiuxiang Main Tourist Centre Complex (already closed for business), our pre-booked Didi car was ready to pick us up & drive us back to Kunming city (1.5 hr) leaving behind a "harrowing" experience in this leg of travel in Yunnan, China ! In travelling, you win some, you lose some; you may have to bite the "bullet" joining the bandwagon & "coasting" along with your travel buddies to a destination you yearn to see based on an ad hoc plan done in haste  !  But be prepared for any uncertainties & has a plan B ready to find your way back to your origin ! I was tired & hungry by the time we arrived in Kunming city at around 21.30 ! 

24) From the return cable car ride, I took a few pictures of the setting sun in Jiuxiang Scenic Area; the sunset is here to remind you that after darkness, light always returns hopefully brighter in the days ahead especially when you are travelling ....... 

25) My dinner of the night in a favourite food stall nearby our hotel - both my travel buddy & myself jointly savored a plate of fried noodle (CNY10) + egg fried rice @CNY10 (Rm6) for this late night simple & no frill meal before retiring for bed ! A long day indeed after the Shilin Stone Forest & ambitious Jiuxiang Caves visits !