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Explore the region
About Daqikong Scenic Area
The natural bridge stands about 73 metres high, about 22 metres wide and about 15 metres thick; the county's guide records that people call it the Oriental Arc de Triomphe. It developed in Carboniferous limestone and marl of about 360 to 290 million years ago, in beds that strike north-east to south-west and dip at 56 degrees. The channel beneath it was an underground river passage in the late Quaternary, about 12,000 years ago; as the crust rose and the underground river cut down, the cave widened and its roof fell in.
The district is named after the Daqikong bridge, begun in 1847, the 27th year of the Daoguang reign, and completed in 1850 as the Wanshan Bridge, on the old trade road between Guizhou and Guangxi. One of its arches was washed out in 1877; money was short, the repair ran to seven years, and the bridge was renamed Shuangxi before it came to be known as the Daqikong bridge. It stands 500 metres downstream of Mengtang. Daqikong is one of four districts that make up the Zhangjiang scenic area, 118.8 square kilometres in all with 48 recorded scenic resources; the State Council listed Zhangjiang in the third batch of national scenic areas in 1994, and UNESCO inscribed it on the World Heritage List in 2007 as part of the South China Karst.
What to look for
- The natural bridge, about 73 metres high and 22 metres wide, left standing when the roof of an underground river cave collapsed.
- The Daqikong bridge of 1847-1850, originally the Wanshan Bridge, 500 metres downstream of Mengtang.
- Yaofeng Cave, a karst through-flowing water cave about 3,200 metres long, 114 metres wide and 90 metres high, named for the wind that the waterfall at its mouth drives out of it.
- The dark interior of that cave, strewn with boulders the size of houses and holding pools, falls and lakes along the underground river.
- The fish of the Mengtang reach, which the county's guide describes as including a wholly transparent fish, a pig-snouted fish and a leaf-eating fish local people call zhuli.
Location & getting there
Getting to Daqikong Scenic Area
Confirm the visitor entrance and which boat or walking routes operate on your date. Rainfall, water levels and weather can change access.
- Search for 大七孔 with 黔南布依族苗族自治州 and 荔波县.
Find Daqikong Scenic Area
大七孔 · 荔波县
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.