The Yuntai Mountain waterfall is claimed to be China's tallest uninterrupted waterfall at over 1,000 feet high.
Pictures and videos of the waterfall are absolutely gorgeous, but one hiker who scaled the mountain discovered that they are all a lie.
The water is being pumped up 1,000 feet and pushed out of an old rusty pipe.
[Editor's Note: This is so dang on-brand for China that I'm dying from laughter]
To be fair, it does sound like there was a waterfall there once, and during really rainy seasons, sometimes there is still, but most of what tourists are taking pictures of is totally artificial.
The outrage was so great that the Chinese government told the caretakers of the park to announce the deception and be upfront with the tourists.
The park's website now boasts a message from the waterfall itself:
I didn't expect to meet everyone this way.
As a seasonal scenery I can't guarantee that I will be in my most beautiful form everytime you come to see me.
I made a small enhancement during the dry season only so I would look my best to meet my friends.
Only in the age of the internet could something completely falsified be called "a small enhancement."
The Chinese people's responses varied.
Some said,
I think the site can shut down now because they are deceiving visitors.
Others said,
It doesn't matter where the water is coming from as long as the scenery is beautiful and people can take photos with the waterfall.
I suspect that latter group either work for the government's park department, or they are influencers who are okay with deception as long as it makes them look good.
On the plus side, they may have unintentionally beat out a world record.
The Cascata delle Marmore in Italy has held the title of the largest man-made waterfall for over two millennia.
The Marmore Falls were constructed in 271 B.C. because the Roman consul Manius Curius Dentaus wanted to dry out the wetlands of the Velino River, so he had a canal dug to dump the water over a cliff.
But Marmore Falls is only 541 feet tall.
If the Chinese want to make the most of their little cheat, they should stake their claim for the world's largest man-made waterfall!
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