Guizhou Spider-Men Cave

There is a mysterious place, which looks just like the quiet Moors landscapes in the American movie Maleficent, except that this is not the home of elves, but of six real-life Spider-Men. They can leap to the highest and most hidden places that only swallows can reach and easily walk between high mountains, sheer cliffs and caves. Even foreign climbing experts are amazed by those incredible climbers.

This video shows us a scene from the Getu river National Park in Guizhou. Some people say this is the most beautiful place in the world, others come here to see the coffins and the spider-people, who used to carry corpses for a living. Near Getu river there is a huge grotto, the size of 12 football fields. Because thousands of swallows live there all year round, it is also known as the swallow grotto. Inside you will find a most stunning view, coffins hang from the ceiling and the upper walls of the grotto, some are stacked layer upon layer. Why are there so many coffins stacked inside a grotto and how where they brought up there?

There is a mysterious legend that says ancestors of the Hmong people learned to climb just to be able to put their deceased elderly on top of a cliff! This is not a rumor, because today we can still see the remains of that coffin site in Getu. Due to the passage of time, the coffin's wood has rotted away and left the bones exposed, some have even fallen into the Getu river. Apart from this, those people that run on walls and fly over cliffs with only their bare hands, also climb those cliffs to collect some rare medicinal herbs and spices to treat illness and disease.

However, there are only few remaining Spider-people, who still pass on this traditional skill. They are not afraid of the dangers of free solo climbing, because their courage is their best protection, they are only afraid of having no successor so that their skills become lost forever, thus they call for more young people to join this sport.

Are you curious? Do you like climbing? Or are you impatient to brave danger? Let's go!

But where is this place?

Here – at the Getu River Scenic Area in the Anshun Ziyun Miao and Buyi Autonomous County of Guizhou province

Travel Guide: Anshun travel

Best visiting time:

March to May: Explore the Tunbao culture, admire the rapeseed flower fields in full bloom and feel the ancient Chinese culture.
June to August: Look at the the abundant water of Huangguoshu waterfall – the biggest waterfall in China.
September to November: Take an autumn boat ride and feel the strange atmosphere of natural karst caves with multicolored lighting.

Recommended stay: 2 days

Cost:

Economic: less than 120 CNY (less than 20 USD)
Comfort: 120- 150 CNY (20-25 USD)
Luxury: More than 500 CNY (less than 80 USD)

Recommended delicacies: Bobo candy, fried Erkuai, Egg yolk cake (Anshun Small Cross Street)

Attractions nearby: Spider-people in the Swallow Grotto and and Dachuan area of the Getu river scenic area.

Entrance fee: full tickets 190 CNY (about 30 USD) ; Leisure tickets 150 CNY (About 25 USD)

The full tickets take you to see the Spider-People's performance and then you can walk inside the big cave, the blind valley and the upper cave then you take a small boat to the Dahe Miao village. The leisure tickets show you the Spider-people, but directly after you take the boat, you don’t go inside the cave.

Opening time: 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Suggested visiting time: 2.5-3.0 hours

Transport: In the Anshun south bus station you can catch a ride to Ziyun for 18 CNY (less than 3USD) per person. Or you take a local taxi near the train station that brings you there for 25 RMB (less than 4 USD) per person.

After you get of the bus at Ziyun bus station there are minivans going to Getu river, which is 29 km away, you can arrive there in 40 minutes.

Popular knowledge: In the Getu river scenic area there are a lot of stone peaks, valleys, magnificent caves crisscrossed by underground rivers. Some of those dried up and collapsed a long time ago forming the “Blind Cave” with its virgin forest, as well as fossils of ancient cave dwellings, a Miao village and ancient hanging coffins.