Over the years and under different circumstances, completely unique caves have been discovered in the vast expanses of China. They are of great interest to researchers, since many of them are of man-made and very ancient origin. But it has not yet been possible to find out anything about their purpose or the details of their construction.
The mystery of the Chinese Blooming Mountain
The Huashan caves in the southern part of Anhui province southeast of the city of Tunxi were accidentally discovered in 1999 in the bowels of the Blooming Mountain by a Chinese peasant who, for some unknown reason, had made a dangerous ascent to a decent height. The entrance to the caves was disguised by nature itself, and it could only be viewed up close.
The found underground halls turned out to be not just a miracle of nature, but the work of human hands. Moreover, thousands of hands, since even a few dozen hardworking Chinese would not be able to take out such a huge amount of stones and rubble. And even more so to create amazing architectural structures from stone. Underground palaces - you can't say otherwise. Carved stone stairs, arches and columns are more typical of temples than caves.
The largest room is 12,600 square meters. In the other, about 140 meters long, there is a pool with columns.
The only mention of the Blossoming Mountain slips in the writings of a historian during the Han dynasty (about 100 BC). He said that the emperors came to pray on this mountain, but how they climbed the steep steep goat path is not known. At the same time, the ceramics found in the cave date back to the II-IV centuries AD, and the analysis of stalactites shows that they are about 1700 years old.
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Tombs, Temples or Granaries?
These underground cavities are located in the small mountain village of Shiyanbei, in the north of Longyu County. These are not natural formations, voids are also created by people.
Each of the caves has a large underground hall with an area of up to 1000 square meters. Large stone columns support the stone vault; their number depends on the area of the hall. In addition to the hall, each cave has one or two artificial stone reservoirs in the floor. Huge inclined planes are striking, there are also steps carved into the rock.
It is surprising that in all these rooms, except for one headless statue, nothing else was found - no ceramics, no household items, no tools, no weapons. But on the walls there is a rock painting. In addition to the images of horses, birds, fish, there are quite mysterious drawings, for example, birds with a neck so long that it is several times the length of their body.
Until now, archaeologists do not know for what purpose Lun-yu was created. Some believe that they were intended for the burial of ancient emperors, others see ancient temples in them, others believe that they could be a kind of storage for grain … There is even a version of the formation of caves in connection with the extraction of stones in them. According to the academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering Wang Sijing, Long-yu are one of the largest cave architectural ensembles in the world.
Ancient pipeline
In 2002, local shepherds wandered into a deserted place near the foot of Mount Baigong Shan in Qinghai province, near the city of Ikh Tsaidam. One of them suddenly saw what looked like a cave entrance. Looking closely, people noticed two more manholes heaped with stones. They ventured into the first entrance, it led into a room with perfectly smooth, as if polished, walls. There people noticed pipes sunk into the walls …
A rusty iron pipe descends from the cave ceiling at the far end of the tunnel. The second goes underground, and 12 more are mounted at the entrance. The diameter of all structures is from 10 to 40 centimeters in cross section. They are located strictly parallel to each other. But at the same time, the age of the pipes, according to preliminary estimates of experts, is about 40 thousand years and older! (Some experts believe they are millions of years old.)
Shortly after the publication of the report about the find, Qin Huanwen, the head of the information service of the Qinghai provincial administration, met with reporters. According to him, samples of the material from which the pipes are made were sent for analysis to the laboratory of the nearest metallurgical plant. It turned out that they contain about 30 percent iron oxide, as well as significant amounts of silicon dioxide and calcium oxide. Eight percent of the content could not be detected.
According to the engineers who performed the analysis, the large amounts of silicon dioxide and calcium oxide are the result of a long interaction between iron and sandstone, which indicates a very ancient origin of pipes.