On the Linwu Hill, there are caves, andinside the caves, there are hills, caves are inside caves, small ones withinlarge ones, and one connects the other. Outside the caves, it is wide andspacious, and inside the caves, it is sophisticated.

In Taoism, there are so called ten biggrotto heavens, thirty-six small grotto heavens, and seventy-two blissfullands. Linwu Cave ranks the ninth, and therefore the name Ninth Grotto Heaven.According to legend, dragons inhabit inside the cave, and so the cave resemblesa dragon, and is thus called ¡®Dragon Cave¡¯, and the Linwu Hill is thereforecalled Hill of the Dragon Cave. The inside of the cave is as spacious as alarge building. Standing rocks look just like trees, with their tops level witheach other, like that of a house, and therefore the name Linwu, which meansTree House. Inside the cave, paths are smooth and water quiet, and walking onthe paths is just like doing it in your own courtyard. Looking up, stalactiterocks hang upside-down, as if carved by angels. Caves are inside caves, withone connecting the other, sometimes wide, sometimes narrow; it is secretive anddeep, winding and tortuous, unfathomable and puzzling. There are caves ofShishi, Longchuang, Yinfang, Shizhong, looking like frogs, eagles, fish, andgoats, and so on.

LinwuCave is connected with underground streams, pumping out more than 300 cubicmeters of water per day year round. Precipitous cliffs and rocks are reflectedin the water like in a mirror in a unique and charming manner. There areinnumerous hidden spring outlets and two visible ones, the Milk Spring and theZiyun Spring. The water from the Milk Spring looks just like milk. During rainyseasons, water is in large quantity and flows out like a waterfall. While theZiyun Spring has an uninterrupted source in abundant supply. The scholar WangAo of the Ming Dynasty wrote a verse about it: ¡°A well runs deep at theentrance of the cave, the water is like cloudy sap from the void. I come hereto get a jar of water, so as to be in contact with angels¡±. Water flows alongthe cave,and the cave is full of life, being reflected in the water.

In winter, while it is cold and chilly outside thecave, it is as warm as in spring inside; in summer, with a scorching sunshinning outside, it is cool and moist inside. Walk out o the cave, climb upthe hill, at late afternoon, to see afar birds returning to their nests,fishing boats floating remotely, and dusk setting in. This is one of the tenscenes of the Western Hill, ¡®Dusk at Linwu¡¯, as if a Chinese painting hangingon the sky.