探訪中國最大自然冰洞 形成300萬年多謎團待解

China's biggest ice cave is located in the northern province of Shanxi. At an altitude of 2,300 meters, the cave is more than 100 meters deep. It was formed around three million years ago.

中國最大的冰洞位於北方的山西省。該冰洞海拔2300米，洞深100多米，是約三百萬年前形成的。

The cave, in the Luya mountain in Ningwu County, Xinzhou City, is connected with Fenhe River, which is believed to provide water for the cave.

這座位於忻州市寧武縣蘆芽山的冰洞與汾河相連，人們認爲是汾河爲冰洞提供了水源。

The cave is less that half an hour's drive away from the headstream of Fenhe River. Once, as an experiment, a haystack was placed at the bottom of the cave and it disappeared, only to be found the next day in the river.

該冰洞距汾河的發源地不到半小時的車程。有一次，作爲一個實驗，一個被放置在冰洞的底部的草垛消失了，第二天卻在汾河發現了它。

Scientists are still researching how the cave formed. Such caves are normally found in extremely cold areas such as Antarctica or Siberia, but Luya mountain is at a similar latitude to Lisbon in Portugal.

科學家們仍在研究該洞穴是如何形成的。這樣的洞穴通常在極寒地區發現，如南極洲或西伯利亞，但蘆芽山和葡萄牙里斯本的緯度相近。

During World War II, war horses that were killed during fighting were stored in the cave, as the sub-zero temperature ensured the meat would keep and it could be eaten at a later time.

二戰期間，在戰鬥中被打死的戰馬就存放在冰洞裏，因爲零度以下的溫度確保肉類保存完好，並且以後也可以使用。

The wooden ladders in the cave are cleaned twice a day, otherwise they would collect layers up layers of ice. Because the ice continues to form, the ice cave changes all the time.

洞裏的木梯需每天清掃兩次，否則將積起層層冰層。因爲冰是持續形成的，所以冰洞時刻都在變化。

The cave is open for visitors from April to October each year, when a maximum of 3,000 people are allowed to enter daily.

冰洞每年四月至十月對遊客開放，每天最多允許3000人進入。

In the past, villagers used the ice from the cave for medicinal purposes. However, to protect the cave, such behavior is now banned.

過去，村民使用冰洞裏的冰作藥用。但是爲了保護洞穴，這樣的行爲已被禁止了。