Located on the north bank of the Yangtze River, Fengdu is an ancient city with a long history, known as the "Ghost City" to most Chinese people, it got its reputation as the "Ghost City" in the Eastern Han Dynasty (A.D. 25 - A.D. 220). Two officials from the imperial court: Wang Fangping and Yin Changsheng, got bored with the political life in the court and came to Mt. Minshan outside Fengdu City to practice Taoist teachings. Both of them later became immortals by carrying out self-cultivation. This story widely spread and makesMt. Minshan become famous. When combined together, their surnames Yin and Wang, sound very much like "King of the Underworld" in Chinese, hence the people began to call Fengdu the "Ghost City".
Today, the town throngs with many tourists who come to visit temples and shrines dedicated to the gods of the underworld. Landmarks here bear horrific names such as Purgatory, Nothing-to-be-done Bridge, and Ghost Torturing pass; the three trials for ghosts who wanted to enter the netherworld.
Snow Jade Cave
A recently discovered and ready to be recorded by Guinness, Snow Jade Cave is a karst landform, one of the 4 bests in the world, housing the Tower Coral & Terra Shield, which has already applied for a Guinness World Record.
Located in the center of the Three Gorges. It is on the same route as the Fengdu Mountains, Dragon River Stream, Southern Lake, and Fairy Mountains. It is 12 km from Fengdu ghost town. From what we can tell, Snow Jade Cave is 1664m long, with 3 full stories – upper, middle, and lower. There are 6 excursion areas, named, Heroes, Heaven, Upstairs, Northern Scene, Palace, and Prosperity. In the cave, there are 100 or more beautiful places, and 4 of them are world class beauties: the biggest is Tower Coral, 8m long Stone Chess, 4m high Terra Shield, and Ice Wonder.
Snow Jade Cave was formed between 100,000 to 3,300 years ago, and it is the youngest member of the karst caves' family. Furthermore, it is still growing with a very high rate of 33mm every 100 years. It was given an award by the Cave Association of China as the “Base of Cave Research”, and it's the first cave research base in China.
