Jīnlíng shēn chù, Guǎnghángōng yī dòng; shíbā dù yī xià, rú dào shēnqiū. — Deep in Jinling, one cave of the Cold Palace; one drop of eighteen degrees, as into late autumn.
Guanghan Palace (广寒宫, Guǎnghán Gōng) is a 4A-rated (December 2021) show-cave complex on Qiyao Mountain at Jinling township — 80 yuan in both seasons — a karst cave with an underground dark river (地下暗河) whose interior holds a constant 18°C. The name is the Chinese moon palace’s, borrowed for the cave’s cold: the drop in temperature at the entrance is the visit’s first sensation, and the lit chambers inside are the show.
The naming follows the cave’s own logic: its chambers are large, cold and mineral-white, and the lighting is tuned to the “palace” conceit — the formations read as architecture, the cold as the moon’s. The dark river is the cave’s second half, an active waterway at the cave’s floor that ties Guanghan Palace to the same karst plumbing as the county’s other limestone country. The 18°C constant is the cave’s comfort and its warning: a layer is needed inside, in every month.
The cave is the county’s weather-proof product — it runs in rain and holds its temperature in heat, which makes it the plateau’s reliable stop when the grassland is soaked. The circuit is level but long, and the path is wet; grip matters more than stamina. The 80-yuan flat price tells you the cave is a year-round trade rather than a seasonal one.
flowcloud would say that the county put the moon’s palace inside a mountain and kept it at 18 degrees — and that the cave’s entrance is where summer ends.
Practicalities
- Rating: 4A (graded December 2021)
- Tickets: 80 yuan in both peak and off-season
- Address: Qiyao Mountain, Jinling township
- Getting there: the mountain road from the seat or the Huangshui direction; allow a half-day ⚠️ (checked October 2026, subject to change)
- Time needed: 1.5–2 hours inside
Words and Names
广寒宫 Guǎnghán Gōng — the Cold Palace, the Chinese moon palace the cave is named for · 七曜山 Qīyào Shān — Qiyao Mountain, the cave’s mountain · 金铃乡 Jīnlíng Xiāng — Jinling township, the address · 地下暗河 dìxià ànhé — the underground dark river · 钟乳石 zhōngrǔshí — stalactites, the cave’s formations