trip

As we walked up the pathway weaving its way up the ravine, it was difficult to know what to expect of the Guyaju Cliff Dwellings; China’s largest collection of ancient dwellings gouged into the sides of stone hills. Ascending the stairs, we passed markers indicating where two former gates once stood to keep the outside world from entering the village at night. The second gate also protected the villagers’ most valuable resource, a natural spring that provided the village with fresh water. Finally, as we rounded a bend, the cliff dwellings came into view and the questions began to fill our heads, “Why did they build here? How did they accomplish the task? And in the end, why did the inhabitants leave?”

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With winter abating and spring another month away, my friend Bo called and said it was time to go for a five-kilometer exploration of northern China’s largest public hole, Silver Fox Cave (Yinhu Dong). Naturally, I accepted the invitation and asked how many days I should pack for. The reply surprised me – half a day. How is it that there is a massive cave system only 90 minutes away from Beijing and I had never heard of it? Okay, so I never actually flipped through the Beijing Immersion Guide, nor have I looked for things outside of the city much since we don’t own a car. But until last week, none of my car-touting friends had mentioned it either. Since wandering around Silver Mountain Pagoda Forest the week before was a hit (see post here), I was down with exploring the underbelly of a mountain.

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