皖蘇浙三省交匯的石龍山下， 隱藏著一個(gè)天下奇觀太極洞， 廣袤的長(zhǎng)三角沖積平原上，因此多了一份神奇。
太極洞位于廣德新杭鎮(zhèn)與宜興太華鎮(zhèn)之間，交通便利。景區(qū)分洞內(nèi)與洞外兩大部分。洞外不僅有綿延起伏的山巒，野趣橫生的竹海，雞鳴狗吠的村舍，更有傳為東漢劉秀避難的“臥龍橋”，三國(guó)呂蒙發(fā)令的“將軍臺(tái)”，北宋范仲淹洗硯的“滌硯池”，南宋岳飛明志的“劍峽石”等人文遺跡。近年又陸續(xù)開(kāi)發(fā)五色谷文博園、果果家園采摘園、國(guó)際滑翔傘營(yíng)地、石龍山漂流等游玩項(xiàng)目。
太極洞里的氣象萬(wàn)千
Wondrous views in Taiji Cave
走進(jìn)太極洞，宏大的規(guī)模讓人震撼�？偯娣e約15萬(wàn)平方米，洞內(nèi)大洞小洞總長(zhǎng)約數(shù)十公里。只見(jiàn)旱洞連水洞，大洞套小洞，天洞接地洞，環(huán)環(huán)相扣，洞洞相通，忽狹忽敞，時(shí)高時(shí)低，忽溫忽涼，忽陸忽水，給人變幻莫測(cè)之感。
太極洞的萬(wàn)千氣象主要集于洞內(nèi)�，F(xiàn)已開(kāi)放19個(gè)大廳、160多個(gè)景點(diǎn)，千奇百怪的鐘乳石，有的如蓮、如筍、如柱、如幔;有的如鐘、如鼓、如棋、如磐;有的如鳥(niǎo)、如獸、如人、如怪;有的如蛟龍、如翔鳳、如潛鱗，高峰出谷，瀑布流泉，玉階瑤池，地下銀河，鬼斧神工，無(wú)不令人嘆為觀止。最著名的有太上老君、滴水穿石、槐蔭古樹(shù)、仙舟覆掛、雙塔凌霄、金龍盤(pán)柱、洞中黃山、萬(wàn)象攬勝、太極壁畫(huà)、壺天極目等十大景觀。如“太上老君”，似白發(fā)蒼蒼、合十誦經(jīng)的老人;“雙塔凌霄”如上下倒置、基座入云的古塔;洞中黃山“似雄偉峻峭、秀麗奇幻的黃山”;“太極壁畫(huà)”則如眾仙聚會(huì)、雄師出征、沙場(chǎng)交兵、困獸爭(zhēng)斗等一幕幕情景。
太極洞景區(qū)外景
An exterior view of the Taiji Cave Scenic Area
Located between Xinhang Town of Guangde and Taihua Town of Yixing, Taiji Cave is easily accessible. The scenic area is divided into two parts, inside the cave and outside the cave. Outside the cave, there are not only rolling mountains, wild bamboo groves and villages with crowing fowls and barking dogs, but also many historical and cultural heritage sites. In addition, local tourism administration and management entities have recently developed several amusement and sports attractions, such as the Culture Expo Park in the Five Colored Valley, the Fruit Picking Orchard in Guoguo Homestead, an international paragliding camp, and a rafting route in Mt. Shilong.
You will probably be astonished by the grandness when you are in the cave. The total area open to tourists is about 150,000 square meters and the total length of all the cave tunnels is estimated about several dozens of kilometers. In the cave, you will see dry tunnels and water tunnels, big tunnels and small tunnels, upper-level tunnels and lowerlevel tunnels, all interconnected together. Some tunnel sections are wide, some narrow, some high, and some low,some warm and some cool. In the cave, you may feel as if you were in an incredible magic world.
You will surely fifi nd many wondrous views in the cave from the 19 big hall-like venues and over 160 spots open to tourists. The fantastic and bizarre stalactites seemly made with uncanny workmanship will surely make you admire. The top 10 most attractive scenes in the cave are Taishang Laojun, an image of the Grand Supreme Elderly Lord in Chinese myth; the place where dripping water is wearing away the stone; the image of an ancient Chinese scholar tree; the overturned stone boat hanging overhead; two pagoda-like stalactites growing down on the cave ceiling; the place resembling a golden dragon coiling around a pillar; an image like Mt. Huangshan in the cave; a place showing picturesque scenery; a section with mural-like patterns on the cave wall; and a bird-eye-view-like picture in Hutian section of the cave, all vivid and lifelike.
萬(wàn)象攬勝的鬼斧神功
An eye-catching scene created by nature
水洞是太極洞奇中又一奇，長(zhǎng)約2公里，其中700多米可行舟。人在舟中行，如同夢(mèng)里游。在五色燈光的照耀下， 洞壁上的“擎天玉柱”“蝙蝠神蠶”“懸關(guān)隘口”種種奇石造型，恍如仙境，燦若星辰，使人有置身九天銀河之感。
太極洞為什么這么神奇?地質(zhì)學(xué)家告訴我們，早在四億五千萬(wàn)年前，這里還是一片大海，沉積了以石灰?guī)r為主的碳鹽巖。大約二億五千萬(wàn)年前，由于地球內(nèi)部運(yùn)動(dòng)，地殼上升，海洋變成了高山陸地，發(fā)生褶皺和斷裂，形成了特殊的喀斯特地貌。再經(jīng)地下水漫長(zhǎng)的沖刷溶蝕及巖石崩落和再發(fā)育，雕鑿出了太極洞這座地府神宮。
歷代文人墨客留下的題刻
Inscriptions left by ancient literati
早在兩漢唐宋時(shí)，太極洞即成為旅游名勝。成書(shū)于明朝天順五年(公元1461年)的《明一統(tǒng)志》記載：“長(zhǎng)樂(lè)洞，亦名大洞，俗名太極洞。”明嘉靖十四年(公元1535年)任廣德州知州的朱麟，曾作《游大洞》詩(shī)。萬(wàn)歷年間任廣德州刺史的吳同春，于1578年初夏游太極洞，欣然題寫(xiě)“太極洞”三個(gè)楷書(shū)大字，鐫刻于太極洞洞口右側(cè)石壁，至今清晰可賞。
燦若星漢的地下銀河
The fabulous underground river in the cave
The water cave is another wonder in Taiji Cave. It is about two kilometers long, where you can take a boat for more than 700 meters. Boating in the water cave is like wandering in a dream. Under the illumination of colorful lights, the cave become a fairyland, featuring stalactites and stalagmites in various shapes and reflections from them like shining stars, making people feel as if they were traveling in the Milky Way
What makes the cave a miracle? Geologists tell us that about 450 million years ago, this area was a sea where sedimentary carbonate rocks, mainly consisting of limestone, formed. About 250 million years ago, as the earth's crust rose due to the internal movements of the earth, the ocean became mountains and land. With the folding and fracturing of the crust, special karst land formations took place. Then after long-time erosion and flushing of groundwater, together with the rock breaking and redevelopment, this magnificent underground palace Taiji Cave has been finally created.
文字：書(shū) 同
