【Haichuan Chemical Industry Site】Karst Caves and Nitrate Caves along the Dadu River in Leshan, Sichuan
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Xiaodong is located in Shawan District, Leshan, on the banks of the Dadu River, hidden within a huge natural sinkhole. Its name derives from a history of over a thousand years of extracting and processing nitre there. Until the last century, nitre caves remained an important source of raw materials, and thus were continuously mined. The entrance and the main cave are natural karst caves. The main cave runs from north to south, with a width of 20 meters in both directions; its total area is approximately 30,000 square meters. The depth of the cave is unfathomable. According to the local chronicles of Shawan District, there are as many as 108 branch caves in the nitre caves.
On April 12, 1990, a geological survey team sent from Shawan District collected an axe made of stone at the entrance of the Niudong cave. As determined by the Sichuan Cultural Relics Administration Committee, this stone axe dates back to the Middle Stone Age to the early Neolithic period. At that time, this stone axe was housed in the Guo Moruo Former Residence Museum, where it was well preserved. This stone axe is known as a \"turtle-back shaped stone axe\"; it is 14.5 centimeters long, 11 centimeters wide, and 2.5 centimeters thick. The handle of the axe has the shape of a turtle’s head, and the \"turtle back\" portion shows signs of being shaped by hammering. The three edges of this axe are slightly curved and have an uneven surface texture. From the moment it was unearthed in Tongci Township, Shawan District, it declared that the Leshan civilization had already existed more than 5,000 years ago.
Above the nitre cave hangs the famous Nitro Rock Waterfall. The Liu Gou stream in Qilong Village, at the foot of the Si’e Mountains, flows down to the entrance of the nitre cave, forming this waterfall. According to the local villagers, this waterfall also has the ability to indicate the time of day, as it flows in different directions at various times of the day. The cliffs close in naturally around it, forming a huge sinkhole in the shape of a footprint. A few white clouds drift in the deep blue sky, resembling tattoos on feet.
As a person from Shawan. I really didn’t know about this place: L
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