Officials address claims after hiker spots secret behind famous waterfall in China
Niamh Shackleton
Featured Image Credit: DOUYIN / Instagram/kelly739197h
Nature is a beautiful and wonderful thing, but some nature-lovers were left with questions after a video of a Chinese waterfall went viral.
From Niagara and Angel Falls, to Iceland's Gullfoss waterfall, there are hundreds of beauty spots across the globe.
But how would you feel if you learn that the waterfall wasn't completely organic?
Well, this is what's happened with the Yuntai Mountain Waterfall, which is situated within Yuntai Geo park in China.
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The UNESCO Global Geopark’s attracts millions of annual tourists and visitors.
The breathtaking 1,000-foot-high cascade (which is said to be the tallest waterfall in all of Asia) is quite the sight, but one hiker recently made an unexpected discovery.
After trekking to the top of the huge waterfall, the hiker found a pipe seemingly feeding the so-called natural attraction.
Taking to Douyin - China's alternative to TikTok - one user who goes by the handle Farisvov on the video sharing site wrote alongside the now-viral video: "About the incident where I went to the source of Yuntai Waterfall with great difficulty but saw a water pipe."
Yuntai Waterfall has since been trending online, with many questioning its authenticity.
With this in mind, the park have now addressed the matter after local government officials were sent to the park to investigate, BBC News reports.
The park later posted on behalf of the waterfall saying: "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 every time 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."
The admission has divided people online, with some agreeing that adding the pipe isn't such a bad thing.
"I think it's a good thing to do. Otherwise people would be disappointed if they end up seeing nothing there," a user on Weibo said.
Another questioned if the person who posted the clip doesn't have 'better things to do'.
Someone else suggested that it is 'good faith effort for the scenic area to maintain the landscape during dry periods'.
But it has also drawn criticism.
Someone said: "It's not respecting the natural order, and not respecting the tourists."
"How could it be called the No.1 waterfall anymore," raged another.
Reportedly this isn't the first instance of Chinese officials tampering with the countries best-loved waterfalls.
Huangguoshu Waterfall has been assisted by a water diversion project from a nearby dam since 2006 to help the flow during dry season.