The Yuntai Waterfall is subject to water fluctuations. A water pipeline now feeds the waterfall year-round, which is especially good for tourists. A video of the pipe is now sparking debates on China’s social media.
A waterfall without water? That’s not a good tourist attraction. This holds true for the Yuntai Waterfall, one of the most famous waterfalls in China, which has now drawn even more attention than usual. A video shows that the majestic falls are artificially fed by a water pipeline, as reported by CNN.
The Yuntai Waterfall is located in the Yuntai Mountain Park, a major tourist attraction in China’s north-central Henan province. The park has an AAAAA rating – the highest designation awarded by the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism for tourist attractions.
“Like the Milky Way descending”
However, whether the source of the water, described on the park’s website as “like the Milky Way descending,” actually flows so abundantly has been the subject of speculation among many Chinese in recent days. This week, a video surfaced on social media in China apparently showing a pipe supplying water to the 314-meter-high waterfalls. This suggests that the source may not be as natural as visitors are led to believe.
The management of Yuntai Mountain Park responded to the video, explaining that seasonal changes necessitated the additional enhancement of the waterfall during the dry season. “Due to seasonal changes, it cannot guarantee to present itself to the public in its most beautiful form,” visitors were informed. Therefore, the waterfall undergoes “a slight enhancement” during the dry season.
The park management also thanked everyone for their attention and promised that the waterfall would greet guests this summer in its “most perfect and natural form.”
Mixed reactions about waterfall with state assistance
While the video shocked many people in China, others on social media praised the park’s response. “The source of a waterfall is not what people want to see anyway, I don’t think it’s considered a lie to the public,” wrote one user on the popular Chinese platform Weibo. “You’re there to see a peacock displaying its feathers, not to focus on the peacock’s rear end,” another user metaphorically commented.
Yuntai is not the first waterfall in China to need a little extra help. The monsoon climate of the country makes it challenging to keep water flowing during the dry season. The Huangguoshu Waterfall in China’s southwestern Guizhou province also suffers during the dry season. In 2004, a dam was built to ensure that the water continues to flow. At the time, the province praised the dam, saying it would “put an end to the history of the Huangguoshu Waterfall drying up.”
