China harbors many mysteries and puzzles, and a significant portion of the country remains largely unexplored due to social and political reasons. Difficult logistics, language barriers, and problematic bureaucracy mean that accessing these areas is a challenge in itself, even before considering the "standard" problems and dangers associated with diving in unexplored caves in remote locations.

The exploration project of the Du'an karst area in the Guangxi region of China aims to conduct reconnaissance and assess the exploratory potential of the 241-kilometer Du'an River. This river is called the first underground river in China. According to information gathered by the team, there are over 300 karst windows providing various levels of access, but obtaining even approximate information about them is an extremely difficult task. This difficulty is partly because many members of the local community are reluctant to see divers swimming in their drinking water and even accuse them of disturbing the spirits of the cave.

The key to the future of the project will be the involvement of local diving communities and their knowledge of the area, as well as experience and access to logistics. It is also critically important to build relationships with these local diving communities to help manage relations with local officials and the local population.

During the first phase of the project, Jani Niskanen and Melanie Cristau spent nearly 28 hours in the water, exploring caves in the area and building relationships with local communities. One aspect of the project involved training local divers to lay the groundwork for future projects in the area.

Unfortunately, travel restrictions related to the Covid19 pandemic significantly revised the original assumptions regarding the size of the first phase of the project, and not all goals were achieved. However, in the coming years, the team plans to continue exploring this vast karst system.

Alongside the main goal of the project, team members also managed to dive in the Fangshan quarry located on the outskirts of Beijing, where marble used for the construction of the Imperial Palace in the Forbidden City in Beijing was extracted. This was probably the first dive by non-Chinese divers in this quarry.