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Explore the region
About Panlong Gorge
The gorge is formed by eight connected peaks over 500 metres in elevation, with streams, ravines, waterfalls and pools running through them. Forest cover in the protected area, which totals 30,676.5 mu, reaches 93.5 per cent, and the town government records more than 20,000 mu of primary secondary forest, more than 600 plant species and more than 30 rare endemic species, among them alpine azalea and the tree fern, which it calls a living fossil. The gorge itself runs 6 kilometres long and 50 to 100 metres wide, holding more than 100 waterfalls of various sizes; the town government describes the cluster as rare within China.
The town government names four waterfalls individually. Tenglong (Soaring Dragon) Waterfall, the largest, drops 86 metres; Yanyu (Misty Rain) Waterfall, the second largest, drops 76 metres and throws up a rainbow in its spray; and Lingtian (Listening to Heaven) Waterfall has the steepest slope in the gorge, dropping 68 metres at 75 degrees, and local tradition holds it is where the Azure Dragon and Mottled Dragon once listened to heaven's laws. Xiaolongtan Waterfall, the source of the gorge's waterfalls, is said in local tradition to be where the Dragon Mother prepared for the birth of her sixth son, Panlong. A cluster of 108 water wheels is kept for display, a device the town government records as first used for irrigation, rice-hulling and tofu-grinding as early as the Spring and Autumn and Warring States period more than 2,000 years ago.
What to look for
- Tenglong Waterfall, the gorge's largest, with an 86-metre drop.
- Yanyu Waterfall, the second largest, with a 76-metre drop and a rainbow effect in its spray.
- Lingtian Waterfall, the steepest in the gorge at 75 degrees with a 68-metre drop, tied to a local dragon legend.
- The tree fern in Xunlong Valley, a nationally second-class protected plant contemporary with the dinosaurs.
- The cluster of 108 water wheels, an ancient irrigation and milling device kept on display.
Location & getting there
Getting to Panlong Gorge
Confirm the visitor entrance and which boat or walking routes operate on your date. Rainfall, water levels and weather can change access.
- Search for 盘龙峡 with 肇庆市 and 德庆县.
Find Panlong Gorge
盘龙峡 · 德庆县
No reliable map pin yet: search by the Chinese name.
Sources & visit information
The linked sources support the identity and background described in this introduction. Opening hours, admission, activity availability and exact arrival arrangements have not been comprehensively checked. Confirm current visitor information with the venue; the original catalogue locality and editorial review flag are retained.