Introduction

Originally known as Huashan Grottoes, the Mysterious Grottoes of Flower Mountain are located in Tunxi, Huangshan city of East China's Anhui province . With the greatest scale, the highest grade, the largest coverage and the most mysteries, they are unique of Chinese nation.

In the 1960's a local farmer who was picking medical herbs nearby discovered the first grotto. Later, he reported the discovery to the local government, which triggered commercial development of the Flower Mountain area by the Huangshan municipal government. Surveys and excavations were conducted under the supervision of experts from Tsinghua University .

So far, although a total of 36 grottoes have been discovered, scattered among the mountains and riverbanks along a five-kilometer stretch of the Xin'an River, only the NO.2 and NO.35 grottoes are open to visitors.

The Flower Mountain Grottoes were not naturally eroded by water, but are ancient man-made underground palaces, believed to be the ancient Huizhou Grottoes. There are no historical recordes about the grottoes. Through textual research on a five-centimeter-long stalactite found in the NO.35 grotto, geologists have  confirmed these grottoes were built in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420), 1,700 years ago.

In May 2001, former President Jiang Zemin visited the grottoes, exclaiming, "Wonderful, wonderful. This is precious." Remarking that the grottoes were an enigma, he renamed them "Mysterious Grottoes of Flower Mountain".

  About NO.35 Grotto

The size of these grottoes varies a lot. The No. 35 grotto, situated halfway up the Flower Mountain, occupies some 12,000 square meters of floor space and is the largest man-made grotto ever found in China.

Inside the grotto, the temperature stays at 15℃ all year round, which makes people feel comfortably cool in summer and warm in winter. Surprisingly enough, there is no circulation of hot air upward and cold air downward. There is a pool named "Jade Green Waterpool" within the grotto. Some people think the pool is connected with the Xin'an River, but rigorous survey reveals that the pool's water level is two meters higher than that of the River. Can this be the work of an underground river? So far no definite conclusion has been reached.

Author: Jessie

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