H2oh-no-they-didn’t!
Chinese park officials fessed up to adding a “small enhancement” to the country’s tallest waterfall after a hiker’s viral video revealed the breathtaking 1,000-foot-high cascade is actually being fed by a large pipe stealthily built into its rock face.
“The one about how I went through all the hardship to the source of Yuntai Waterfall only to see a pipe,” the poster using the alias “Farisvov” sarcastically captioned the video, which has garnered tens of millions of views on Chinese social networks Weibo and Douyin.
“I didn’t expect to meet everyone this way,” officials from Yuntai Mountain Geopark — adopting the persona of the waterfall — posted on social media after being outed.
“As a seasonal scenery, I can’t guarantee that I will be in my most beautiful form every time you come see me,” the post continued, admitting the alterations were made to dupe the UNESCO Global Geopark’s millions of annual tourists and visitors.
The discovery sparked debate on Chinese social media, with one Weibo user in favor of the enhancements writing, “People would be disappointed if they end up seeing nothing there,” according to BBC .
Others accused the park of “not respecting the natural order and not respecting tourists” — and even questioned whether it should retain its status as the country’s No.1 waterfall, which China touts as the tallest uninterrupted falls in the country.
China has at least once before similarly modified other waterfalls that are popular with tourists, including Huangguoshu Waterfall, which has been artificially boosted with water diverted from a nearby dam since 2006.