Jiulong Cliff Tombs

35°30'32.70"N, 116°59'37.27"E

(link: NA)

Access to the Jiulong cliff tombs is restricted to the public. This site is guarded by the police and is under constant video surveillance. Approval from local authorities is required to gain access.

I convinced the police at the base of the Jiulong cliff tombs that I am an international filmmaker and needed access to the site for a documentary on the National treasures of China.  I don’t feel that was a lie (maybe a stretch), but I had to do the convincing using google translate on my phone.  I’m not really sure they what they thought I was saying, but after a bit of “negotiation” I was allowed fifteen minutes access to the rightmost tomb.  I made measurements of the tomb for a 3D model and videoed the interior.  I took a few photos from ground, but with such little time I was left to take most of the photos and additional video with my drone.  Unfortunately, my drone has bouts of “the shakes” (since I flew it into the lower quarry wall at Yangshan quarry) and a lot of the video was unusable.

There are no easy answers for any of the megalithic sites in China, but Juilong feels the most like a bunker or dwelling of any of the sites I have visited so far (Guyaju is another possible example, but I have not visited that location yet). There are aspects of the engineering and process tool marks that connect this site to other megalithic sites, but the location, layout, symmetry of the tombs (Yes, I have been in the leftmost tomb as well) makes this site appear to be something different.  The site is about two kilometers from the nearest possible river access, and the amount of stone excavated from the site is relatively small. It is unfortunate that it is nearly impossible to get authorized access to this location for detailed study.