【Haichuan Chemical Industry Site】The Golden Cave in Xianfeng County, Enshi, Hubei – the world’s largest nitrate pit
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Within the Huangjindong Scenic Area in Xianfeng County, Enshi, Hubei, there are over 120 pits used for producing nitre, covering an area of more than 200,000 square meters. So far, this will be the largest **site complex** in a cave in the world.
Golden Cave is located at the northernmost tip of Xianfeng County, upstream of the Tangya River; it was part of the territory of the Jindong Tusi during the Tusi era. Golden Cave is also known as “Nitrate Cave” due to the abundant nitrate resources inside it.
According to historical records, in the 50th year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing dynasty, the governor Te Cheng’e and the regional administrator Wu Tan submitted a request to begin mining there. Qianlong approved this request, and thus mining for saltpeter began in Golden Cave, with the aim of producing gunpowder from it.
The hundreds of nitrate production sites in the caves stretch over a total length of 4 kilometers, with the scale of nitrate production within these caves being truly spectacular； At the end of the smoke-filled passage lies another underground river within the Golden Cave ； This is the fourth level; there is also an underground river on the sixth level. In total, there are three levels of water caves, all of which can be used for rafting. It is a unique multi-level rafting system in the world, truly a wonder of the world.
Part of the fourth layer within the cave is a ‘thousand-year-old nitrate passage’ – a route carved out by generations of nitrate miners over time as they extracted nitrate from the cave. The nitrate-rich mud piled up along both sides of this passage is a remnant from those extraction efforts. Although the space of this passage is quite small, the air quality there is excellent; since there are caves within caves, all of them being connected to each other, and natural ventilation openings exist, walking around in this cave does not cause any breathing difficulties.
Walking inside the cave, one instantly gets the feeling of being in a tunnel warfare pit – winding and twisting, full of curves.
Inside the cave, not only is it the birthplace of ancient Chinese **, but there are also peculiar peaks and rocks of various shapes, as well as numerous stalactites in countless forms – it’s like being in a grand garden of stalactites.