皖苏浙三省交汇的石龙山下， 隐藏着一个天下奇观太极洞， 广袤的长三角冲积平原上，因此多了一份神奇。
太极洞位于广德新杭镇与宜兴太华镇之间，交通便利。景区分洞内与洞外两大部分。洞外不仅有绵延起伏的山峦，野趣横生的竹海，鸡鸣狗吠的村舍，更有传为东汉刘秀避难的“卧龙桥”，三国吕蒙发令的“将军台”，北宋范仲淹洗砚的“涤砚池”，南宋岳飞明志的“剑峡石”等人文遗迹。近年又陆续开发五色谷文博园、果果家园采摘园、国际滑翔伞营地、石龙山漂流等游玩项目。
太极洞里的气象万千
Wondrous views in Taiji Cave
走进太极洞，宏大的规模让人震撼。总面积约15万平方米，洞内大洞小洞总长约数十公里。只见旱洞连水洞，大洞套小洞，天洞接地洞，环环相扣，洞洞相通，忽狭忽敞，时高时低，忽温忽凉，忽陆忽水，给人变幻莫测之感。
太极洞的万千气象主要集于洞内。现已开放19个大厅、160多个景点，千奇百怪的钟乳石，有的如莲、如笋、如柱、如幔;有的如钟、如鼓、如棋、如磐;有的如鸟、如兽、如人、如怪;有的如蛟龙、如翔凤、如潜鳞，高峰出谷，瀑布流泉，玉阶瑶池，地下银河，鬼斧神工，无不令人叹为观止。最著名的有太上老君、滴水穿石、槐荫古树、仙舟覆挂、双塔凌霄、金龙盘柱、洞中黄山、万象揽胜、太极壁画、壶天极目等十大景观。如“太上老君”，似白发苍苍、合十诵经的老人;“双塔凌霄”如上下倒置、基座入云的古塔;洞中黄山“似雄伟峻峭、秀丽奇幻的黄山”;“太极壁画”则如众仙聚会、雄师出征、沙场交兵、困兽争斗等一幕幕情景。
太极洞景区外景
An exterior view of the Taiji Cave Scenic Area
Located between Xinhang Town of Guangde and Taihua Town of Yixing, Taiji Cave is easily accessible. The scenic area is divided into two parts, inside the cave and outside the cave. Outside the cave, there are not only rolling mountains, wild bamboo groves and villages with crowing fowls and barking dogs, but also many historical and cultural heritage sites. In addition, local tourism administration and management entities have recently developed several amusement and sports attractions, such as the Culture Expo Park in the Five Colored Valley, the Fruit Picking Orchard in Guoguo Homestead, an international paragliding camp, and a rafting route in Mt. Shilong.
You will probably be astonished by the grandness when you are in the cave. The total area open to tourists is about 150,000 square meters and the total length of all the cave tunnels is estimated about several dozens of kilometers. In the cave, you will see dry tunnels and water tunnels, big tunnels and small tunnels, upper-level tunnels and lowerlevel tunnels, all interconnected together. Some tunnel sections are wide, some narrow, some high, and some low,some warm and some cool. In the cave, you may feel as if you were in an incredible magic world.
You will surely fifi nd many wondrous views in the cave from the 19 big hall-like venues and over 160 spots open to tourists. The fantastic and bizarre stalactites seemly made with uncanny workmanship will surely make you admire. The top 10 most attractive scenes in the cave are Taishang Laojun, an image of the Grand Supreme Elderly Lord in Chinese myth; the place where dripping water is wearing away the stone; the image of an ancient Chinese scholar tree; the overturned stone boat hanging overhead; two pagoda-like stalactites growing down on the cave ceiling; the place resembling a golden dragon coiling around a pillar; an image like Mt. Huangshan in the cave; a place showing picturesque scenery; a section with mural-like patterns on the cave wall; and a bird-eye-view-like picture in Hutian section of the cave, all vivid and lifelike.
万象揽胜的鬼斧神功
An eye-catching scene created by nature
水洞是太极洞奇中又一奇，长约2公里，其中700多米可行舟。人在舟中行，如同梦里游。在五色灯光的照耀下， 洞壁上的“擎天玉柱”“蝙蝠神蚕”“悬关隘口”种种奇石造型，恍如仙境，灿若星辰，使人有置身九天银河之感。
太极洞为什么这么神奇?地质学家告诉我们，早在四亿五千万年前，这里还是一片大海，沉积了以石灰岩为主的碳盐岩。大约二亿五千万年前，由于地球内部运动，地壳上升，海洋变成了高山陆地，发生褶皱和断裂，形成了特殊的喀斯特地貌。再经地下水漫长的冲刷溶蚀及岩石崩落和再发育，雕凿出了太极洞这座地府神宫。
历代文人墨客留下的题刻
Inscriptions left by ancient literati
早在两汉唐宋时，太极洞即成为旅游名胜。成书于明朝天顺五年(公元1461年)的《明一统志》记载：“长乐洞，亦名大洞，俗名太极洞。”明嘉靖十四年(公元1535年)任广德州知州的朱麟，曾作《游大洞》诗。万历年间任广德州刺史的吴同春，于1578年初夏游太极洞，欣然题写“太极洞”三个楷书大字，镌刻于太极洞洞口右侧石壁，至今清晰可赏。
灿若星汉的地下银河
The fabulous underground river in the cave
The water cave is another wonder in Taiji Cave. It is about two kilometers long, where you can take a boat for more than 700 meters. Boating in the water cave is like wandering in a dream. Under the illumination of colorful lights, the cave become a fairyland, featuring stalactites and stalagmites in various shapes and reflections from them like shining stars, making people feel as if they were traveling in the Milky Way
What makes the cave a miracle? Geologists tell us that about 450 million years ago, this area was a sea where sedimentary carbonate rocks, mainly consisting of limestone, formed. About 250 million years ago, as the earth's crust rose due to the internal movements of the earth, the ocean became mountains and land. With the folding and fracturing of the crust, special karst land formations took place. Then after long-time erosion and flushing of groundwater, together with the rock breaking and redevelopment, this magnificent underground palace Taiji Cave has been finally created.
文字：书 同
