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Explore the region
About Xueyu Cave
Xueyu Cave (雪玉洞) is a karst cave in Fengdu County (丰都县), Chongqing (重庆), set in a steep rock face not far from the Yangtze. It is one of the sights of the Yangtze Three Gorges National Scenic Area (长江三峡国家级风景名胜区).
The name means "Snow Jade Cave". According to the Fengdu county government, about 80 percent of its stalactites are "white as snow and pure as jade" (洁白如雪，质纯似玉), and the name was given by Professor Zhu Xuewen (朱学稳), then president of the China cave association. The county describes it as the youngest of the caves developed in China and one that is still growing. The cave is 1,644 m long and runs on three levels, one above the other.
Fengdu's county media centre lists four formations it rates as world records. The Snow Jade Penguin (雪玉企鹅), more than 4 m tall, is called the largest cave shield yet known, and it also goes by the name Stone Shield King (石盾王). The Stone King's Flag (石旗王), 8 m long, is described as the largest and thinnest flag formation found so far. The "Autumn Troop Review" (沙场秋点兵) is presented as the biggest group of tower-shaped coral flowers, and the Goose-Quill Forest (鹅管林), layer upon layer of soda straws hanging overhead, as the densest of its kind.
The cave is also used for research and science teaching. In September 2003 it was named a China cave science popularisation base and a China cave observation and research station, and in 2007 a national key research cave experiment base. It was rated a national AAAA tourist attraction in December 2005 and became a Chongqing science popularisation base in 2020. Macaques, wild boar and golden pheasants live in the surrounding area, and Fengdu Ghost City (丰都鬼城) lies about 12 km away.
What to look for
- Snow Jade Penguin (雪玉企鹅), a cave shield more than 4 m tall
- Stone King's Flag (石旗王), a thin, 8 m flag-shaped formation
- "Autumn Troop Review" (沙场秋点兵), a large group of tower-shaped coral flowers
- Goose-Quill Forest (鹅管林), dense soda straws hanging overhead
- The three stacked levels of a 1,644 m cave in which about 80 percent of the stalactites are white
Location & getting there
Getting to Xueyu Cave
- Search for 雪玉洞 with 重庆市 and 丰都县.
Find Xueyu Cave
雪玉洞 · 丰都县
No reliable map pin yet: search by the Chinese name.
Sources & visit information
Written from the linked sources and checked sentence by sentence against quoted extracts by a separate reviewer on 2026-09-23. Opening hours, admission and access arrangements are not covered; confirm current visitor information with the site.
Some facts checked against Wikipedia contributors, "雪玉洞" · CC BY-SA 4.0.
Some facts checked against Wikipedia contributors, "Snowy Jade Cave" · CC BY-SA 4.0.