An important tourism area, the site lies 23 km (14 mi) northeast of the county town and 166 km (103 mi) from the provincial capital, Guiyang.

[1] Originally called the Daji Cave (打鸡洞),[2] it was discovered in 1980 by the Zhijin County Tourism Resources Exploration Team.

Split into three layers,[1] the cave extends for some 13.5 km (8.4 mi) over a total area of 7 km2 (2.7 sq mi) and is believed to possess the largest unsupported roof span of any cave worldwide.

[2] More than 120 different crystalline formations are found in the cave's interior along with stalactites and the "Silver Rain Tree" (银雨树), a 17 m (56 ft) tall rare flower-like transparent crystal.

The surrounding area, known as the Guizhou Zhijin Cave Scenic Area (贵州织金洞风景区), was made a national level tourist site by the Chinese State Council in 1988.