The
Gaxian Cave Site is located 10 kilometers northwest of Alihe Town in the Oroqen
Banner of the Hulunbair League in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
The site lies at the eastern foot of the northern peak of the Great Hinggan
Mountains. The cave is located on a 100-meter-high granite peak and towers at
about 25 meters. The mouth of the cave is shaped like a triangle 12 meters high
and 19 meters wide. The cave contains a wide space stretching 92 meters from
south to north, 27 to 28 meters east to west and reaching over 20 meters at its
highest peak. It covers an area of over 2,000 square meters, resembling a grand
hall. To the northwest is an oblique cave nine meters wide, six to seven meters
high and 22 meters long. About 11 meters up in the east wall of the grand hall
is a five-meter-wide cave that is over 10 meters deep. In the middle of the
grand hall lies an irregular natural stone board about 3.5 meters in length and
three meters wide, with a 0.5-meter-high stone supporting it that resembles a
stone table.
Located about 15 meters to the west wall is a line of stone inscriptions
containing 19 rows and 201 characters, written in a style typical of the
Northern Dynasties (386-581). The discovery of the Gaxian Cave provides precious
archaeological materials for study into the cultural origin of such ethnic
groups as the Serbi.