Zhijin Cave in Guizhou has an intelligent system that monitors the cave’s conditions. — ESIYMBRO/Wikimedia Commons
Helmet strapped and headlamp shining, 14-year-old Wang Zichen zipped into the shadowy depths of a karst cave, part of a growing wave of underground adventure tourism in southwest China’s mountainous regions.
Beneath the towering peaks of Guizhou Province stretches a vast karst world filled with tens of thousands of ancient caves. Formed over hundreds of millions of years by persistent water erosion, these caves hold dramatic geological formations, rich biodiversity and traces of early human activity.
