China Caves Project

Introduction

The China Caves Project is a product of co-operation and friendship between the institute of Karst Geology, Guilin Guizhou Normal University and the British Cave Research Association.

Professor Zhu Xuewen
Guilin Karst Institute.

Professor Zhu Xuewen of the Guilin Karst Institute has the difficult task of organising the logistics in China. This has included, transport and accommodation within China, liaising with officials and obtaining permission to cave in areas of China previously closed to foreigners.

The Chinese have been exploring and using caves for thousands of years. The China Caves Project has benefited from this local knowledge and used modern equipment and techniques to make yet more discoveries. China contains about half of all the cave bearing limestone in the World. On this basis the potential is that half of all limestone caves may lie within China, providing scope for exploration and scientific investigations for many years to come.

Andy Eavis
China Caves Project
Leader in the UK

Andy Eavis and Tony Waltham have been the driving force behind the project in the UK since 1982. As a result of the partnership with the Guilin Karst Institute, the China Caves Project has surveyed and explored many kilometres of cave. These caves have often been spectacular and beautiful. To date there have been seventeen expeditions to China from the UK. The latest expeditions have also included several team members from Ireland and other countries.

"The activities of the early China Caves expeditions were concentrated in Guangxi Province, working southward and westward, almost to the Vietnamese border. The wonderful tower karst landscapes of this region became familiar to many members of the team. Several expeditions ventured slightly farther to the north and west into the Province of Guizhou, to the edge of the tower scenery, where the limestone becomes more massive. More recently, activity has moved still farther northwards, into Sichuan Province. The area covered by the latest expeditions, lies slightly to the north-east, almost to the border with Hubei, and close to the Yangtze Gorges.

Coincidences of suitable rock types, tectonic history and climatic extremes have produced over one million square kilometres of some of the most astonishing scenery on earth. Commonly the magnificent surface landforms are matched by impressive underground scenery, revealed in a multitude of caves and canyons.

The deeply eroded surface of the south-east is, however, not conducive to the preservation of long cave systems. Central China, where areas of generally more massive limestone have suffered less deep erosion, offers better potential for the exploration of longer and deeper caves." - Andy Eavis

Equally as important as finding the caves, is sharing information with others. We hope for greater scientific understanding and realisation of the need for conservation of these fragile environments. The story of the China Caves Project is not just about caves, but about our shared experiences with different cultures and people and what we might learn from them.

1994 Expedition