Swallows Caves (Yanzi Dong)

The Swallows Caves are 30km east of Jianshui on the road to Kaiyuan or Gejiu - easy to reach on public buses heading this way from town, or by chartering a minibus from either of the Chaoyang Bei Lu depots. Part of karst formations along the forested Lu River Valley , stone tools, animal bones and freshwater mussel middens reveal the caves¡¯ use in Neolithic times, but for the last few centuries people have come to see the tens of thousands of swiftlets who nest here - the noise of wheeling birds is deafening during the early summer - and Yangzi Dong has become an enjoyable Chinese-style tourist attraction, featuring wooden walkways and underground restaurants. If you can, catch the Bird Nest Festival on August 8, the only day of the year that collecting the now-vacant nests is allowed - a very profitable and dangerous task for local Yi men, who scale the 60-metre-high cliffs unaided as crowds look on. Buses either way along the main road continue until mid-afternoon.