The Dragon Palace Caves (Longgong) lie 27 kilometres southwest of Anshun, and they are the most worth visiting of the cave systems in this part of Guizhou. The tour is done by boat rather than on foot: you board a flat-bottomed vessel at the cave entrance and drift through a series of chambers over an underground river, past stalactite formations illuminated from below in colours that are more dramatic than they sound. The scale of some of the chambers — domes 40 metres high with formations hanging from the ceiling like frozen waterfalls — is substantial.
The cave system received UNESCO World Heritage tentative listing and forms part of the South China Karst designation. Unlike some Chinese cave attractions, the formations here have not been heavily augmented by concrete or lighting that destroys the sense of scale. The boat trip takes about 40 minutes; combine it with a walk through the scenic area on the surface, where the river emerges from several natural arches in quick succession. The area is noticeably cooler than Anshun city — pleasant in summer, cold in winter.