Foye Cave 佛爷洞

About Foye Cave

Foye Cave (佛爷洞), whose name means "Buddha Cave", is a karst cave and scenic area in Dakang Town (大康镇), 14 km from central Jiangyou (江油), Sichuan. The Jiangyou culture and tourism bureau calls it the largest karst cave in northwest Sichuan.

The scenic area covers about 37.8 km², of which 2.27 km² is developed, and runs from 543 m to 1,400 m above sea level. It sits among named hills: Kuangshan (匡山), also called Daitian Mountain (戴天山), lies above it and Li Bai's study terrace (李白读书台) below, with Guanwu Mountain (观雾山) and Tuanling (团岭) to the east and Yinghua Mountain (莹华山) and Qianyuan Mountain (乾元山) to the west. The bureau also places it on the route the poet Li Bai (李白) took as a young man to study.

The name dates from the Republican era, when a carved stone figure of the Buddha more than 3 m tall was found beside the Tongtian River (通天河), the underground river that runs through the whole cave. Inside, the air stays at about 15 to 18°C all year. The bureau sums the cave up as caves within caves and a river hidden inside with boats on it, and it singles out the bamboo rafts offered here. Above ground the area has clear streams in deep gorges, grassland, forest and rocky hills with a stone forest, and it was a filming location for CCTV's Journey to the West.

The site opened to the public in 1986. It became a Sichuan provincial scenic area in 1989, a national AAA tourist area in 2005 and part of the Jiangyou National Geopark in 2012, and it was rated a national AAAA scenic area in 2016.

What to look for

• The cave itself, known for caves within caves
• The Tongtian River (通天河), the underground river that runs through the whole cave
• The stone-forest zone (石林游览区) among the area's rocky hills
• Shoumu Gorge (兽目峡), set aside for water play
• The Buddhist-culture zone (佛文化游览区) and the Western Paradise zone (西方圣境游览区)
• The cherry-blossom zone (樱花游览区), which hosts a cherry-blossom festival

Location & getting there

Getting to Foye Cave

• Search for 佛爷洞 with 绵阳市 and 江油市.