China Connection

The objective for this continuation of the 'China Caves' programme was a gorge in Sichuan Province (SE China), 10km long, 200m deep and no more than 30m wide, in which a river goes underground, eventually re-surging in the world's biggest doline. The exploration proved to be some of the most technically challenging ever attempted, with nearly all 21km of cave passage being surveyed. A gap of 450m proved impossible due to a badly timed period of torrential rain, so the team has left that for local cavers to finish off.