An iconic waterfall that attracts millions of tourists in China has been found to be fake.
A hiker has made a bizarre discovery on Yuntai Mountain that has sparked fury among visitors.
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The embarrassing revelation was posted on Chinese social media app Weibo and garnered millions of views from angry tourists.
In the clip, the man spotted a pipe that fed the 300-meter-high tourist spot, dubbed China’s tallest uninterrupted waterfall.
The beautiful cascading waters can be seen gushing from the pipe built and hidden high in the rock.
User Farisvov captioned the video, saying, “The one about how I went through all the trouble to the source of Yuntai Waterfall just to see a pipe.”
The post went viral and racked up more than 14 million reactions, causing an outcry and prompting authorities to investigate.
The park operators came out to clarify the situation and admitted that the waterfall increases during the dry season.
Yuntai Waterfall receives “a small improvement” so as not to spoil the experience for vacationers and to appear “in the most beautiful way”.
A park spokesperson said in a statement: “Yuntai Mountain Waterfall is a natural landscape.
“But as a seasonal attraction, to ensure tourists don’t leave disappointed, we have made a small improvement in the dry season.”
They added that the waterfall will welcome tourists in its “most natural form” this summer as it will not need reinforcement during the monsoon season.
The local government asked the park administration to be transparent about such improvements in future and warn visitors in advance, state media CCTV reported.
Yuntai Waterfall attracted more than 11 million visitors in 2019 alone and received the highest rating from China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
Located in a UNESCO Global Geopark, Yuntai is surrounded by rock formations falling in love dates back more than a billion years.
After the beautiful waterfall was exposed as partially artificial, some netizens commented to express their disapproval.
One person said: “How could it still be called the number 1 waterfall?”
Another added: “It’s not respecting the natural order and not respecting tourists.”
But others applauded the park’s solution to less rainfall.
One user wrote: “Anyway, the source of a waterfall isn’t what people came to see, I don’t think that counts as a lie to the public.”
Someone said: “I think this is a good thing to do. Otherwise, people would be disappointed if they ended up not seeing anything there.”
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
