Cave Turtles

On the last day of the trip we got to visit some caves formed in the mountains by shifting of the earth millions of years ago.  The caves were enormous and amazing.  The local government had stepped in and modified the caves with lights and passageways to make it easier for tourists to get in and out, and to enjoy the show more. 

I will admit, it made it more interesting, but it also felt like it was violating the naturalness of the cave.  Something else, that was an interesting cultural difference, was the cave tour.  In the US, a cave tour would consist of the cave's history, and the difference between a stalactite and stalagmite.  Here however, the cave tour was more focused on what the cave looked like.  For instance, this rock looks like a mother lion and her cubs… or this one looks like a giant fish.  There would also be a story to go along with the different rocks. 

The lower half is a reflection of the cave over a lake.
The tour guide told a story about how it looks like a foggy and snowy mountain.

I find no fault in this, and it was very interesting, but realized it is a difference in our two cultures.  At the end of the cave tour there was a chance to see some cave turtles.  Supposedly, when the cave was first discovered, there were native turtles found living in the caves. These are very big turtles, and are probably more tortoise related than traditional turtles.  They had some of the turtles in this cave, and you could pay 5 yuan to go see them.  I love a good animal site, so we decided to go.  What we saw irritated me to no end.  We walk through the cave, and find these turtles on table tops for display. They had put glass down so that the turtles could not move (too slippery) and covered them with Chinese decorations and ornaments. People could come up and touch the turtles and take a picture with the turtle.  The turtle could not move, literally trying to escape his own pile of waste that kept smearing on the glass.  If that wasn't bad enough, there was also a sea-turtle kept in a tank the size of a large bathtub where people could throw money in for good luck.  This was too show the difference between sea-turtles and land turtles.  In all honesty, it was very disturbing to see, and something I wish I had not paid to support.

-JASON