CNN
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May and early June have always been popular times to visit the Zhangjiajie Forest Park in southwestern China’s Hunan province, before the oppressive summer heat sweeps in.
The stunning area is famed for its massive quartz-sandstone pillar formations, which are said to have inspired the floating scenery that appears in the 2009 Hollywood blockbuster “Avatar.”
But this year, as crowds of tourists pour into the area, just a few dozen miles away a government-ordered mass cleanup operation is taking place, with crews hauling bags of trash out of ancient caves — most reportedly dumped there more than a decade ago.
The long-hidden environmental damage, discovered in Cili county, an area administered by the city of Zhangjiajie, first came to light in March, after several cave explorers posted footage of the trash-filled canyons on Chinese social media platform Douyin.
In May, the clips went viral, sparking nationwide outrage and prompting investigations by state media and local authorities.
The karst caves across Zhangjiajie are among the region’s most striking natural wonders, formed over millions of years by water erosion. Inside, they often feature both visible and hidden streams, as well as dramatic limestone formations.
One widely shared series of whistleblowing footage, posted by a spelunker named “Xiaofugege,” showed plastic bottles, cans and even containers labeled as chemicals covering rocks and underground bodies of water inside multiple caves.
The most shocking clip, posted on May 29, showed stacked trash “as high as seven to eight floors” according to the spelunker.
In one video, plastic waste can be seen covering an entire surface, prompting the person recording to say: “Look at how thick the trash is, I can even walk on it.”
Chinese leader Xi Jinping has repeatedly said environmental protection is a top priority for the country.
Officials announced on June 9 that 51 tons of garbage had already been removed from two of the worst-hit caves.
Many of the bags were filled with domestic waste, dumped between 2010 and 2015 after the local government banned trash burning but did not implement any waste removal alternatives.
During that period, dumping garbage into caves was not only common but, in some cases, organized. Local officials and residents told state media that the village would send trucks to collect trash and dump it into the karst caves, a regular waste disposal practice back then.
One resident said his dad, who lived only 200 meters from a cave, always discarded garbage into it by himself “for convenience,” state media reported.
“Disposable items, worn-out clothes, plastic bags… all kinds of trash are here,” said one safety officer overseeing the cleanup, according to CCTV.
Aside from household garbage, authorities say they are also dealing with animal waste.
In one video shared in April, taken deep inside a large karst cave, manure could be seen pouring through holes in the ceiling, forming sludge pools while staining the white stalactites black.
Cili county is a major pork producer in Hunan, raising 700,000 pigs annually, according to state media. Local authorities have reportedly launched investigations into 12 livestock farms for illegal waste discharge since footage of the local pollution appeared in March.
Chinese social media reactions to news of the cleanup have been scathing.
“What’s next? How long will it take for the caves and waters nearby to recover? Hundreds of years, or thousands of years?” wrote one Weibo user.
“The individuals and entities involved should be held accountable and face serious consequences,” said another.
Officials told state media that of the 206 karst caves inspected in the area, two-thirds were polluted to some degree. Meanwhile, clean-up was reportedly paused from June 9 to June 12 due to the discovery of toxic air inside the caves.
According to experts, it might be too late to reverse the damage.
“Once the pollutants seep into the karst aquifers, they can quickly contaminate downstream surface water, leading to deteriorating water quality and harming aquatic ecosystems,” Shuai Huan, deputy director of a local environmental geology survey center, told CCTV.
This isn’t an isolated incident. Last year, prosecutors in the city of Bijie, in Guizhou province, confirmed that more than 10 local karst caves were contaminated with household waste, sewage discharge and livestock farm waste following reports from environmentalists.
While bags of trash are being pulled up by cranes in Cili county, the crowds continue to swell nearby in the Zhangjiajie Forest Park. During a holiday break from May 31 to June 2, the popular site saw nearly 400,000 tourists, almost 10% more than the same period last year, according to state media.
The Zhangjiajie Forest Park is part of the larger Wulingyuan Scenic Area, a UNESCO World Heritage site covering more than 100 square miles in Hunan province.
In January 2010, Zhangjiajie officially renamed one of its signature pillars “Avatar Hallelujah Mountain” to celebrate its cinematic fame, after word got out that James Cameron took inspiration from the area’s pillars to create some of the dramatic scenery in his sci-fi film.
“Zhangjiajie not only belongs to the world, but has already made its way to the world,” said a park official at the renaming ceremony.
Watch tourists brave this 5,000 foot-high attraction
Today, the park is home to many popular attractions, including the 1,070-foot-tall glass Bailong Elevator.
Built in 2002, it’s said to be the world’s tallest outdoor elevator. It travels up and down the side of a cliff in the national park and consists of three double-decker lifts, each of which can transport as many as 46 visitors up the mountain in less than two minutes per trip.
The area is also home to the Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon Glass Bridge, where visitors can experience one of the world’s tallest bungee jumps.
Among the most recent additions to Zhangjiajie is Tianti, which means ‘Sky Ladder’ in Chinese. At 551 feet long (168 meters), the suspended ladder stretches between two cliffs at a height of 5,000 feet, according to state media.
