Explorer Sheds Light on World of Caves

16 | Wednesday, December 16, 2020 HONG KONG EDITION | CHINA DAILY YOUTH EXPLORER SHEDS LIGHT ON WORLD OF CAVES

Uncovering the mystery of what lies below the surface has given a former reporter another domain to explore, Yang Feiyue reports.

hat is underneath our feet can by Chinese and European scientists. Experts often captivate us as much as theorize that it is capacious enough that a that which is in plain sight. Boeing 747 passenger plane could fly in it. This was certainly the case as “The road to the cave is etched with gul­ aW love of adventure led a former news lies of differing heights, which is typical of reporter to follow a career of spelunking — the karst landform in Guizhou,” Zhou says. the exploration and study of caves. They are the first challenge the spelunkers Zhou Yuanjie has explored more than 40 have to face. caves across Southwest China’s Guizhou “The ground is covered with green moss province, recording these expeditions and is very slippery,” he says. “You have to be through more than 40,000 pictures and there to see just how big the cave is.” 1,200 minutes of video. Over the years, Zhou has made nine trips The 33­year­old Guizhou resident’s pho­ through different entrances to access the tos and videos have brought to light the Miaoting cave. extraordinary beauty hidden underground. Desire for more adventurous spelunking Zhou’s passion for the fascinating world drove him to master technical diving and of caves was sparked when, in 2012, as a underwater photography. He also became a journalist of a local newspaper, he covered a dive master certified by the world’s leading team on a search and rescue mission to find scuba diver training organization, the Pro­ someone who had accidentally fallen down fessional Association of Diving Instructors, a naturally­formed rock shaft in neighbor­ headquartered in California. ing Yunnan province. “It was the first time my eyes were opened New findings to the dark world under my feet, and I felt all In February 2019, Zhou and a few of his of my previous life experiences completely spelunking friends went through the snor­ dwarfed,” Zhou says of his awakening. keling plan for Miaoting cave and were the The shaft was more than 200 meters long first to explore its underground stream. and, as his helmet’s light reflected off the They managed to bring back valuable geological wonder, it took his breath away. images of a tunnel that runs 26 meters “I felt my sense of time, direction, famili­ below the bed of the waterway, and discov­ arity and comfort all vanish,” he says. ered a new subspecies of cave bug, which In one of those quirks of fate that can has yet to be named. change lives, Zhou, who lives in Guiyang, “People like Zhou have helped offer scien­ provincial capital of Guizhou, found out that tific institutes locations and other clues about he lived close to the search team’s leader. So, caves,” says Qian Zhi, vice­president of the he began to learn from him about this Guizhou Cave Association, which is affiliated underground world and the skills necessary to the mountain resources research institute to navigate it. of Guizhou Academy of Sciences. “I spent practically all of my energy after Their cave explorations have helped raise work focusing on spelunking,” Zhou says. the awareness of people about the need to He learned how to use rope to climb cliffs, protect the environment. For example, they how to snorkel and how to paraglide before remove trash they find during expeditions, he joined professional cave exploration such as plastic bags or bottles that may have teams. drifted there from neighboring waterways But it took him time, literally, to find his and stayed in the cave. feet. In the beginning he had to conquer ver­ Zhou says: “I remove trash from the caves tigo and nausea. if it’s not big, but if there is too much waste, “First, you need to learn not to be a bur­ we usually gather it together, and report it to den on the team, as well as how to install get it removed.” equipment and where to go in the unknown The trash they removed from the under­ territory of a cave,” Zhou says. ground water areas in those caves and the “Safety is of the utmost importance, and films they made recording the details of the every team member has to receive rigorous caves’ interiors were of significant impor­ training and learn to deal with the extreme tance, Qian explains. The trash removal environment and accidents that might can help avoid water pollution, while the occur at any time.” filming can uncover ancient murals before Zhou also picked up knowledge about they are damaged by natural causes or caves, from rock formations to the changea­ human behavior. ble conditions underground, such as tem­ Most of the large caves have been found in perature and humidity levels. southwestern China, such as in Chongqing “One needs to know the formation process municipality, Yunnan and Sichuan provin­ of what’s inside a cave, and its different char­ ces, Qian says. acteristics during dry and rainy seasons,” he To date, more than 6,000 caves have been says. located across Guizhou, and about 2,000 Moreover, spelunkers also have to protect have been explored, he says. the cave they enter. No food and batteries can About 200 caves in the province have be left behind. Take nothing but memories. been tapped for various purposes, such as “It takes a long time for cave sediments to for developing tourism. form, and I would rather give up a photo if The Shuanghe cave in Zunyi city’s Wen­ taking it would undermine the existing cave quan town and Zhijin cave in Zhijin county, structure,” Zhou says. in Guizhou, have both evolved into tourism Guizhou abounds in karst landforms hot spots, creating job opportunities and a which take the shape of enclosed depres­ marked increase in local income, Qian sions, sinkholes, as well as cave systems and says. subterranean rivers. The consistent temperature has also made the caves ideal places for growing Gems in the dark things like mushrooms or storing food and Caves don’t have sunlight and mobile other supplies. “Of course, all those things phone signals are nonexistent. It is another need to be done under long­term supervi­ world. But nature has done something spe­ sion and analysis,” Qian says. cial down there, with glistening rock depos­ Scientists can study meteorology, archae­ its giving some caves the majesty of marble ology and hydrology through exploration of skyscrapers. One might also come across these caves. fossils of ancient marine life or murals left “It’s good that we’ve found an increasing by cave dwellers thousands of years ago. number of young people like Zhou who have In 2013, Zhou embarked on his first offi­ taken an interest in outdoor expeditions,” cial spelunking expedition and made his Qian says. “They can play a positive role in way to the Niudong cave at the junction of urging the public to preserve the caves.” Qingzhen city and Zhijin county, Guizhou. Earlier this year, Zhou became a full­time “The cave was like an alien planet, with its Top left: Zhou Yuanjie goes cave diving with his teammates in Tangbian village, Qingzhen city, Guizhou province, in professional dive coach. strange and complex geological environ­ November 2019. Top right: Zhou photographs a cliff climbing competition in Zhongshan district, Liupanshui city, “I want to share my experiences and help ment, and I had to feel my way around by Guizhou, in August 2020. Top: He and his teammates explore a tunnel behind a waterfall at Yangpi Cave, Guiyang more people to see the charm of outdoor climbing and crawling,” Zhou recalls. city, Guizhou, in January 2020. Above left: He wades through an underwater cave in Qingzhen, in June 2017. adventures,” Zhou says. When he came out, he was covered in mud. Above right: He climbs a cliff in Zhongshan district, Liupanshui, in August 2020. PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY “The ability to overcome difficulty that is The trip also offered Zhou an opportunity developed in the outdoors can be used to to hone his spelunking skills, such as using a deal with setbacks in other areas of life.” number of tools to move around the cave In March, he registered an account on and taking pictures in the process. the short­video platform Douyin, known “It’s very important to get everything in internationally as TikTok, which has so far and out safely,” he says, adding that a slip­up It was the first time my eyes were opened to the dark world under my feet, attracted more than 800,000 followers. might cause a tool to fall on teammates who “They seem very interested in the adven­ may be hundreds of meters below him. and I felt all of my previous life experiences completely dwarfed. ... ture stories and special geological images I As his skills grew, Zhou joined a China­ I felt my sense of time, direction, familiarity and comfort all vanish.” display online,” Zhou says. France team in 2014 and visited the Miaoting cave, categorized as the biggest of its kind, by Zhou Yuanjie, 33, a spelunker based in Guizhou province who has explored over 40 caves Contact the writer at volume, in the world. It was jointly detected [email protected]