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The Yuntai waterfall in China is one of the country’s most cherished natural wonders, with water cascading hundreds of metres down a beautiful gorge to shower Instagrammers and influencers in its fine mist.

One of those pesky influencers has now, however, revealed the waterfall’s secret, leading officials in the Henan province to admit that, yes, the waterfall is fed from water pumped from a pipe.

The admission was sparked by a video filmed by a visitor using a drone that was widely shared across Chinese social media this week. It showed water coming from a circular pipe nestled between the rocks.

Yuntai Falls has China’s highest tourism site classification and is one of the most popular attractions inside the Yuntai Geo Park, where visitors view the towering falls from a platform near its base.

 

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The video quickly became one of the top trending topics on Weibo, with more than 14 million interactions with the related hashtag. The online discussion also saw many local residents say they had long known of the water pipe, blaming it on neighbouring Shanxi province for blocking the upstream river flow with development.

As far as Chinese subterfuge goes, this isn’t a big deal. You can’t expect the park to let a major tourist attraction disappear during the dry seasons. Most responses online agreed and few seemed to mind the revelations about the pipe.

“Appropriate artificial intervention increases the beauty of the scenic area. This is essentially to give tourists a better experience.”

The park also responded with a sweet statement on behalf of the waterfall:

“In order to enrich your visiting experience and make your visit worthwhile, I made a small enhancement during the dry season, just to meet you in a better posture.”

Well said. Whether it is Botox or a pump-fed waterfall, what’s wrong with a little bit of artificial help now and again to stay beautiful?

[source:guardian]