PLACE GUIDE

Shanjuan Cave 善卷洞

Shanjuan Dong

Karst cave in Zhangzhu, Yixing, in four parts, with a 120 m underground boat ride, a Butterfly Lovers link and the Guoshan Stele of 276.

A waterfall dropping in white veils down a mossy limestone cliff into a pool at the bottom of a gorge, a timber pavilion with a balustraded gallery perched on the clifftop above it, dense green foliage overhanging at the left and right, and stone steps curving down at the lower right.
A waterfall dropping in white veils down a mossy limestone cliff into a pool at the bottom of a gorge, a timber pavilion with a balustraded gallery perched on the clifftop above it, dense green foliage overhanging at the left and right, and stone steps curving down at the lower right. · No machine-readable author provided. Whw assumed (based on copyright claims). · Public domain
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About Shanjuan Cave

Shanjuan Cave (善卷洞) is a karst cave in Luoyan Hill (螺岩山), Zhangzhu Town (张渚镇), about 20 km from the centre of Yixing (宜兴), Jiangsu. Tradition says the legendary ruler Shun (舜) offered the empire to his teacher Shanjuan (善卷), who refused and withdrew to live in this cave, which took his name.

The hills of south-western Yixing are marked by karst and hold many caves. Shanjuan is grouped with Zhanggong Cave (张公洞) and Linggu Cave (灵谷洞) as the "Three Wonders of Yixing" (宜兴三奇). The system covers about 5,000 m² and runs for roughly 800 m, divided into an upper, a middle and a lower cave and a water cave. The upper cave stays at 23 °C all year.

In the middle cave's Lion and Elephant Hall (狮象大场), a 7 m stalagmite column called Dizhu Peak (砥柱峰) is said to have formed 30,000 years ago. The lower cave served as a filming location for Journey to the West (西游记), and the water cave is toured by boat along a winding 120 m underground river. The rear cave is tied to the Butterfly Lovers (梁祝) story; the China Tourism Press guide Zoubian Zhongguo: Jiangsu (走遍中国 江苏) calls it the site with the earliest and fullest records and the most remains of the tale.

Beside the cave stands the Guoshan Stele (国山碑), a national key cultural relic since 2001. In 276, under the Wu state of the Three Kingdoms, an earthquake here opened a stone chamber; the Wu ruler Sun Hao (孙皓) took it as a good omen and sent officials to name the site Guoshan (国山), hold a sacrifice and carve the stele. Chinese Wikipedia identifies the chamber opened by the quake with today's Shanjuan Cave. The roughly cylindrical stone is 2.35 m tall and carries 43 lines of seal script, 25 characters to a line, running all the way round.

What to look for

  • The water cave (水洞), toured by boat along a 120 m underground river
  • Dizhu Peak (砥柱峰), a 7 m stalagmite column in the Lion and Elephant Hall of the middle cave
  • The upper cave, which holds a steady 23 °C through the year
  • The lower cave, a filming location for Journey to the West
  • The rear cave (后洞), linked to the Butterfly Lovers story
  • Guoshan Stele (国山碑), a 2.35 m seal-script stele of 276 from the Wu state, a national key cultural relic

Location & getting there

Getting to Shanjuan Cave

  • Search for 善卷洞 with 无锡市 and 宜兴市.
Landforms & caves · 地貌／洞穴 →

Find Shanjuan Cave

善卷洞 · 宜兴市

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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, "善卷洞" · CC BY-SA 4.0.

Some facts checked against Wikipedia contributors, "国山碑" · CC BY-SA 4.0.

Some facts checked against Wikipedia contributors, "无锡市" · CC BY-SA 4.0.

China Revealed · Editorially updated 2026-10-07