Exploring an Ancient Underground Palace

Can you believe it? A thousand-year-old underground palace is hidden beneath this hole.

This is an abandoned quarry in Sichuan. Back then, a quarryman's hammer blow opened the entrance to this stone chamber.

Now, follow our camera down to find out.

Now we've come down from above. Look at this stone chamber.

It's over two meters high and quite spacious. This is the first stone chamber.

Below is a layer of fine sand. It feels warm to step on. Wow!

This is the second stone chamber. Wow, it leads in all directions, right? It's still connected here.

Look here, this is a lookout. Wow, it's so thick, right? Probably about two to three meters.

It's very complex inside. This is a bamboo pole. Let's drag the bamboo pole in first.

Can you stand or sit here? It's just a toilet. How can you tell? Indeed.

No need to look, this must be a toilet. Uh, staying here to use the toilet provides good ventilation.

There are so many vents. Of course, without vents, it would smell terrible down here.

There are also ridges. Yes, here is a ridge. Wow, the space inside is so big. This is a massive project.

Look here. Ah, this opening is the small hole we saw from above earlier.

There's another room here. There's silt all over, and water is still seeping in. Wow.

There's another vent here. Is this an air inlet? Yes, it should be.

The water must have flowed in from here. It's all silt at the bottom.

This secret passage must have had a wooden plank road above. Look at these holes. It would have formed a path. Now that the plank road is gone, we have to go down and cross.

Slow down, there's so much dust. If there were knives buried underneath, this would be a trap.

How do I get across? Carry me on your back. I'll try something challenging.

No, I can't get across this way. I have to go down too.

Let's go.

There's also a basement here. Look over there, it seems to go through.

Let's see if we can bypass it from here. This is a dormitory. Yes, this project is so massive, with over a dozen rooms connected inside.

This should be the kitchen. This is a mortar for cooking, right? There should have been a stone door here. Look, there's a bolt slot below, but it's gone now.

From here, the stove, this is the kitchen.

Look, there's another stove here. The ventilation system is great. Yes, this is the ventilation system for smoke, which discharges the smoke directly outside.

Look, there are black soot marks on top. The stone door must have been sealed to keep heat in. What is this place? Is this for ventilation too?

There's a drain above, and another here. This design... a sewer? Yes, this should be for drainage.

Mutton soup? This is so deep. Let me take a look.

Wow, this back door must be an escape route. It looks like one. There's a small hole up there to get out.

Let me come in and look. Or maybe it's a drainage pool. Look, there's another exit over here.

You can go out from here. There are steps on the other side. See the steps? This should be an escape route.

Over here.

This probably wasn't finished, or maybe there was originally another floor above it.

This is a bit creepy. There's moss all over the top. There's also blood here. How is this a kidney or lung?

Take a look over here. There are over a dozen corpse rooms.

The corpse room at the very end? Yes. But they also made ventilation shafts.

The one by the wall. What? The vent. Yes, yes, yes.

There are no inscriptions, no carvings, and no clues. The tour is over, and it remains a mystery.