About this place

Benxi is and industrial city located about 63 km to the southeast of Shenyang. In Northeastern China, the city is famous for its steel industry. Indeed, you can see the enormous, hideous factory just across the river from the city itself. If the wind is blowing the wrong way, the factory (and the dozens of other factories surrounding the city) belches out smoke that lingers in the city’s air. The city is situated in kind of a bowl, surrounded by large hills on most sides. This can make for some beautiful scenery on a clear day, but unfortunately it often prevents the smog from blowing away.  Benxi was once identified by the UN as one of the most polluted cites in the world. In recent years it has cleaned up somewhat, and most days is tolerable, at least temporarily. 

For most visitors, the pollution doesn’t matter too much, because they don’t bother seeing much of the city anyway, but rather go straight to the main attractions…the water caves and Guanmen Mountain.

Benxi Water Caves 本溪水洞 Běnxī shuǐ dòng

The caves, said to have the “world’s longest underground river that is navigable by boat”, are pretty interesting, and worth taking a half-day to visit. The tour consists of a forty minute long boat ride through the caves, which are lit up with colored lights and have signs with the names of the various rock formations. Interestingly, the caves stay at about the same temperature year-round, which means that in the summer they will provide you with a jacket because the caves feel quite cold; but in the winter you may have to take off some clothes! 

The water cave park area also has some other attractions including a geological museum, a crocodile show, river rafting (not particularly exciting), and some hiking trails up a small mountain. For 187 yuan you can buy an all-inclusive ticket that also includes rides on electric cars that will take you from one attraction to the next. If you only want to go to the caves, the entry is 167 yuan. 

    
To get there: Benxi City is about one hour from Shenyang by bus. The most convenient way to get there is to leave from the South Station Long Distance Bus Station. You can buy tickets in the station itself, or you can find buses leaving regularly from Min Zhu Lu (民主路) right in front of the South Train Station. The bus costs 19 yuan one-way. When you arrive in the Benxi long distance bus station, you can buy another ticket to the water caves for 9 yuan.  The ride from Benxi to the caves is around 50 minutes. There is one bus every day that goes directly from the caves to Shenyang, it leaves around 2:30. If you miss that, you can catch a bus or taxi back to Benxi and get a ride to Shenyang from there. 
  
 
Closed Door Mountain 关门山 guānménshān
 

Located about one hour outside of Benxi City is the Guanmen Shan scenic area. Altough Benxi City is quite polluted and unattractive; the city is surrounded by tall rolling hills and thick forest, and is quite beautiful.

The Guanmen Shan scenic area is a beautiful, relaxing escape from either Benxi or Shenyang, and is well worth a visit. Entry to the park is around 60 yuan. Once inside, there are very few peddlers, shops, or tourist traps that can interfere with your enjoyment of the great outdoors. 

  
The “scenic area” is quite large, and if you have the desire (and the endurance), you could spend a whole day there wandering around. There are around eight hours worth of hiking paths (mostly stairs) going up and around the mountain. Most of the paths are surrounded by thick forest, small streams, and waterfalls, and are very peaceful and serene. There are some nice views on the way up, but unfortunately most of them are blocked by tall trees and foliage. If you go on a non-holiday, especially during the week, there are very few people here, and when you’re on the trail it seems like you have the whole place to yourself. There’s also a beautiful little restaurant where you can choose your own fresh fish or choose one of the live chickens wandering around the area. 
 

While the lack of peddlers and shops can be quite nice, keep in mind that once you start climbing the mountain there is no place to buy food or water. It’s best to carry some snacks and at least a few bottles of water. Also, the hike up the mountain consists of many stairs and is quite steep in parts. It’s probably not suited to young children, the elderly, or anyone in poor physical condition. 

Getting there: You can catch a bus from the Benxi long distance bus station (客运站 kèyùnzhàn). Also, there is a tour company inside the station that offers special tours to Guanmen Shan, the Water Caves, and some other sites around Benxi. But beware of group tours. They often take you on a tour that includes other useless places that you don’t want to go to, while limiting your time on the mountain. Be sure to ask exactly what places are included on the tour. If they can offer a ride directly to the mountain, go for it. If not, just take a regular bus yourself. You could also take a taxi there for around 100 yuan (maybe less if you bargain hard). You may be able to arrange a roundtrip taxi as well, but it will probably cost you more. 

Guanmen Shan is not far from the Benxi water caves, so if you start early in the morning, you could see both places in one day. If you’re not in a hurry, you could stay one night in Benxi and see them on separate days.