This is not an AI-generated image, even though its virality stems precisely from the idea that it could be. Embedded in rock, surrounded by vegetation, and suspended above a colossal chasm hundreds of meters deep: it isn’t the set of a fantasy film, this incredible librarian… Wait, I made a slip: we need to keep exact terms. Let me correct the phrasing below to match the request exactly: The corrected translation is as follows.
This image is not AI-generated, even though its virality stems precisely from the idea that many believed so. Nestled in the rock, surrounded by vegetation, and hanging above a vast chasm hundreds of meters deep: it isn’t the set of a fantasy movie; this incredible library really exists and is located in China.
It is known as Cliff Bookstore, but also as the Mianhua Tiankeng Bookstore or the Cotton Sinkhole Bookstore, and in recent months its images have wandered across the web. The reason is easy to understand: to reach it you must venture into a spectacular karst landscape and walk along a passerella built along the walls of a gigantic tiankeng, a Chinese term used to indicate enormous natural sinkholes.
Cliff Bookstore, the library perched on a 326-meter sinkhole
The Cliff Bookstore is located within the Mianhua Tiankeng Scenic Area, in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in southern China. The landscape’s feature is a gigantic karst sinkhole that formed over millions of years: it measures about 326 meters in depth and 305 meters in width, with rock faces that are nearly vertical and with lush vegetation.
It is precisely on one of these walls that the library has been built, opened to the public in May 2025. Not a shop to buy books, but a cultural space designed to blend with the surrounding landscape. On one side the walls are lined with volumes, on the other side the view opens onto the gigantic tiankeng.
The library is encountered along a panoramic walkway that extends for over 1,600 meters along the doline’s walls. It was conceived also as a rest stop for visitors: you can stop to read or simply observe the panorama, while nearby there is also a cafeteria area.
But one of the most evocative moments comes after sunset. Each evening the library is illuminated by warm lights that highlight the rocky walls and the shelves, creating the impression of a library suspended in space. The lighting itself has become one of the most photographed and shared attractions on social media.
Where it is located and how to reach it
The Cliff Bookstore is located inside the Mianhua Tiankeng Scenic Area, in the village of Mianhua, near the town of Siba, in Luocheng Mulao Autonomous County, part of Hechi City (prefecture-level). It is a rural and mountainous area of southern China, so reaching it requires a bit more travel than the country’s major tourist destinations.
For travelers arriving from Italy, one of the most practical solutions is to fly to Guangzhou or Shenzhen, important international hubs in southern China, and then continue on to Guangxi. Another option is to reach Nanning, the regional capital, by domestic flight or high-speed rail connections. From Nanning you then need to proceed toward Luocheng and the Hechi area. The Mianhua Tiankeng lies about 40 minutes by car from Luocheng’s center; approximate travel times rise to about an hour and a half from Hechi, two hours from Liuzhou, and between two and a half to three hours from Nanning. For the final stretch, given the attraction’s isolated position, driving remains the most convenient option.
