By Tan Weiyun (Shanghai Daily)
Updated: 2007-08-10 10:52

Mountains, caves, lakes, streams, waterfalls and staggering geological wonders are the natural attractions of Guizhou but the the various ethnic minorities have made it China's most diverse province culturally.

 

For many travelers, a trip to Guizhou Province in Southwest China, one of the country's most untapped regions located far from the coast and major rivers, means a tiring journey over bumpy mountainous roads and impoverished townships and villages that are dotted around the drought-stricken, barren landscape.

 

Yes, it is poor and backward but thanks to its geographical location, Guizhou has also been acclaimed as the "Switzerland of the Orient" and is a wonderland that has kept its natural sights exactly as they were millions of years ago.

 

Located to the east of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, the province covers an area of 176,000 square kilometers, of which 75 percent are mountains and plateaus.

 

Famed as a "Kingdom of Mountains and World of Waterfalls," Guizhou is truly a vast land of treasures as its name in Chinese indicates - "place of riches."

 

Its terrain is rugged with underground rivers, thousands of limestone caves, jagged peaks, cascading waterfalls, jade-green forests, dramatic valleys, terraced rice fields and Karst formations, a unique landscape shaped by the dissolving of soluble layers of bedrock over thousands of years.

 

Huangguoshu Waterfall, China's largest, is a must-see scenic spot in the southwestern part of the province. It is 74 meters high and 81 meters wide, so large that the booming of the water over the falls thunders in visitors' ears from long way off.

 

A cave in the cliffside, partly hidden behind the curtain made by the huge sheet of water tumbling down from the top, looks like a fairy world.

 

In the southern tip of Guzhou is Libo County, a nationally ranked scenic spot and a Karst-protected area, dominated by forest settings and surrounded by winding streams.

 

About 90 percent of its residents are from the Buyi, Shui, Miao and Yao ethnic groups.

 

The Tianzhong (Heaven Bell) Cave is the No. 1 attraction for tourists. The cave is divided into the Crocodile, Golden Cock, Rhino and Hundred Animals halls.

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