The Secret Waterfall Wonderland of the Earth's Core

Today, let's dive into the secret core of central Yunnan—Yiliang Jiuxiang! 📍Located in the northwest of Yiliang County, Kunming City, Yunnan Province, it lies in the heart of the eastern Yunnan Karst Plateau, just 90 kilometers from Kunming city center. It is one of the densest and most pristine cave clusters on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. Here, there are no repetitive light shows, but breathtaking underground wonders: billions of years of water flow have sculpted five unique features—majestic, perilous, strange, elegant, and serene. The Shentian travertine pools stack like golden terraces, the male and female twin waterfalls thunder down from a hundred-meter cliff, the underground canyon plunges a hundred meters deep, and you can ride a small boat through it. Stalactites hang like a forest overhead, and the dark river below glows a mysterious blue; even more stunning is its status as a "living geological museum": inside the cave, you can still see growing stalagmites, the "Pearl Spring" where water droplets form pearls, and the "Silver Light Wall" polished by constant underground water. Above ground, Jiuxiang is far from barren—surrounded by green mountains are Yi family fire pits, century-old ancient tea trees, wild macaque troops, and a sea of azaleas blooming in spring. It is truly a dual wonderland of "earthly human life above, eternal star rivers below." Itinerary: 1-day Earth Core Exploration + Yi Village Life | Cave trekking + Ancient village tea visit + Bonfire left-foot dance Total budget: under 400 RMB (about 398 RMB per person) Transportation | ¥60 Take a direct bus from Kunming East Bus Station to Jiuxiang (1.5h) ¥32 | Return by shared taxi to Yiliang County then transfer to high-speed rail ¥28 (more time-saving) Tickets | ¥90 Jiuxiang Scenic Area pass ¥90 (includes Shentian, male and female twin waterfalls, Yincui Gorge, Jinghun Gorge, Dadi Waterfall | includes scenic area electric cart | half price with student ID) Highlights | Be an Earth Core traveler! ✅ Morning immersive cave exploration: wear raincoat and headlamp, follow the Yincui Gorge plank road upstream, take a small boat through the "underground galaxy," and shoot the mirror-like travertine pools at Shentian. ✅ Noon visit to Alulong Yi Village: watch elders roast Jiuxiang rock tea using ancient methods, hand-roll fresh tea leaves, and taste freshly baked buckwheat cakes 🔥 ✅ Evening climb to Dadi Waterfall viewing platform: watch the twin waterfalls cascade like silk, waiting for the sunset to gild the limestone peaks with gold 🌅 ✅ Night bonfire experience: learn the three-step left-foot dance, drink a bowl of steaming Yi family corn wine (non-alcoholic version available) 🎶 Meals | ¥248 Lunch: Alulong Village Yi family fire pit—braised cured ribs with yam + roasted potatoes with fermented bean curd + Jiuxiang rock tea soup ¥68 Afternoon tea: Grandma’s stall at the scenic area entrance—grilled milk fan rolls + azalea flower preserves + wild mountain tea brewed with cave spring water ¥36 Dinner: Jiuxiang Town "Axi Small Restaurant"—cold mixed chicken fungus + glutinous rice balls + fire pit tofu + corn wine jelly ¥82 Snacks and extras: Jiuxiang honey walnut candy ¥18 | wild kiwi dried fruit ¥12 | cave dendrobium powder ¥15 | azalea flower cake ¥17 ✅ Total cost breakdown: Transportation ¥60 + Tickets ¥90 + Meals ¥248 = ¥398 (leftover ¥2 can be exchanged for a small Jiuxiang cave quartz crystal specimen) Best season: April–June (azaleas in full bloom, abundant water flow, cool inside the cave) | avoid rainy season (July–August prone to temporary closures) Essentials: non-slip hiking shoes (cave is slippery), headlamp (must-have!), raincoat (provided but recommended to bring your own), cash (village does not support mobile payments) Off-the-beaten-path tip: bring a copy of the "China Karst Geological Atlas" excerpt, and by the Shentian travertine pools, identify the formation principle of the "edge stone dam" while listening to the guide tell the ten-thousand-year journey of a single drop of water. When the flashlight cuts through the darkness of ten thousand years, I suddenly see—the depths of the earth, where time quietly carves the stars at centimeters per ten thousand years.