Three Visitors Cave sits in a limestone cliff seven kilometres northwest of Yichang, at the entrance to Xiling Gorge where the Yangtze begins its passage through the Three Gorges. The cave is a natural cavern whose walls have been carved with poems, inscriptions, and calligraphy by visitors from the Tang dynasty through the Qing — more than a thousand years of literary graffiti accumulated in layers of stone. The earliest inscriptions from Bai Juyi's 819 AD visit are among the most legible; later dynasties added their own contributions, making the cave a kind of layered literary record.
The views from the cave entrance across the Yangtze River are among the best in the Yichang area, particularly at the point where the cliffs of Xiling Gorge begin to rise. The site includes the ruins of ancient defensive walls visible on the riverbank below. Entry costs around ¥60. It combines naturally with a morning at the dam — both are upstream of the city and the bus routes overlap. The cave is busiest on weekends when group tours arrive; a weekday morning visit is considerably quieter.