Daqikong Scenic Area

The Daqikong (Big Seven Holes) Scenic Area covers a different set of karst features from the Xiaoqikong zone: Tianzhong Cave, a large cavern through which the river flows, with boat tours operating through the interior; Bilu Lake, a natural reservoir of turquoise water; and a set of Buyi minority village sites at the edge of the scenic zone.

The cave tour is the main draw — flat-bottomed boats navigate through several hundred metres of underground river passage, with the rock formations lit from the boat. The scale of the cave is evident from the boat: the river channel narrows and widens through chambers of different heights, and the passage where the water disappears beneath a low rock ceiling requires passengers to lie flat in the boat. The exit emerges at the base of a cliff into open river.

Bilu Lake has the same impossibly clear turquoise quality as the Xiaoqikong pools, concentrated into a larger surface area that allows the colour to read from a distance as a vivid panel of blue-green in the surrounding forest. A floating boardwalk crosses a section of the lake near its outlet.

A shuttle bus connects Daqikong to the Xiaoqikong entrance, about 20 minutes. Most visitors do both zones in a long day, starting early at Xiaoqikong and reaching Daqikong by early afternoon.

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A story
The Daqikong bridge is larger than the Xiaoqikong — seven arches again, but double the size — and was built in the same era to serve the same trade route. Local legend says it was constructed by a single master bridge-builder who completed the work in exchange for lifetime immunity from the labour duties that governed every other resident of the area. Whether or not this is true, the bridge is a more substantial engineering achievement than its famous counterpart downstream.

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