Longyou: Giant Underground Works Erased from Records—or an Ancient Project with Another Purpose

In June 1992, villagers at Shiyan Beicun in Longyou County, Zhejiang, China, pumped five small ponds dry to catch fish. When the water fell, they found more than mud. Beneath the ponds were broad, dark spaces cut into the rock, with straight walls that no stream could have made.

In June 1992, villagers at Shiyan Beicun in Longyou County, Zhejiang, China, pumped five small ponds dry to catch fish. When the water fell, they found more than mud. Beneath the ponds were broad, dark spaces cut into the rock, with straight walls that no stream could have made.

In June 1992, villagers at Shiyan Beicun in Longyou County, Zhejiang, China, pumped five small ponds dry to catch fish. When the water fell, they found more than mud. Beneath the ponds were broad, dark spaces cut into the rock, with straight walls that no stream could have made.

In June 1992, villagers at Shiyan Beicun in Longyou County, Zhejiang, China, pumped five small ponds dry to catch fish. When the water fell, they found more than mud. Beneath the ponds were broad, dark spaces cut into the rock, with straight walls that no stream could have made.