Tongling Grand Canyon

Guangxi


Located in Baise prefecture (百色市), Jingxi County (靖西县), the name of this gorge means 'Connected to the Spirit World'. You will certainly feel spiritual as you descend narrow flights of stairs down to a large cavern, with flickering bulbs and the roar of an underground river. Emerging past the cave, you venture through a thick tropical forest into a series of wild gorges, and past vaulted cliffs with hanging stalactites and dramatic waterfalls that end in crystal pools framed by boulders.

You can walk around some of the waterfalls into the cool, otherworldly caves beyond. But you can't go near the tallest one, which has a drop of 170m and a splash of hundreds of metres in the summer.

From the canyon's exit, walk 30 minutes uphill to the entrance car park, where you can ask your driver to meet you. Alternatively, vans can take you there for ¥5.

There are buses from Jingxi south bus station that make the hour-long trip (¥14) to the canyon every 20 to 30 minutes until 7pm. Look for those headed for Hurun town (湖润镇; Húrùnzhèn).

The best way to get to Jingxi from Nanning is to take the train (¥44, 3½ hours, 8.24am and 1.17pm). Otherwise there are regular buses from Nanning's Xixiangtang bus station for Jingxi (¥90 to ¥130, four hours)