Chinese officials were forced to apologize after a hiker found a secret water pipe supplying China’s tallest waterfall.
The video, posted on TikTok’s sister app Douyin on Sunday, showed a large water pipe embedded in the top of the Yuntai Mountain waterfall, touted as China’s tallest uninterrupted waterfall.
Millions of tourists visit the 300-meter-high waterfall each year, attracted by the ancient geological formations that date back more than a billion years.
Officials at Yuntai Mountain Geopark, a UNESCO-listed site, made a strange post on social media, apologizing for the extra pipeline by speaking as the waterfall itself.
‘I didn’t expect to meet everyone this way. As a seasonal scenario, I cannot guarantee that I will be at my best every time you come to see me,” the post read.
The video, posted to TikTok’s sister app Douyin on Sunday (pictured) showed a large water pipe embedded in the top of the Yuntai Mountain waterfall.
Millions of tourists visit the 300-meter-high waterfall every year.
“I did a small upgrade only during the dry season to look my best to meet my friends.”
Park officials also told local media that the water they used in the pipe was spring water, adding that it would not harm the waterfall itself.
But Chinese social media users were still furious about the decision.
“It’s not respecting the natural order and not respecting tourists,” wrote one Weibo user.
“How could it still be called the number one waterfall?” said another user on Douyin.
The famous Huangguoshu waterfall (pictured) in the southwestern province of Guizhou has been assisted by water diverted from a nearby dam.
Officials boasted that their decision “put an end to the story of the drying up of Huangguoshu Waterfall.”
China is famous for using artificial measures to enhance famous waterfalls.
The famous Huangguoshu waterfall in the southwestern province of Guizhou has been assisted by water diverted from a nearby dam that was built in 2004 to maintain a constant flow during China’s dry season.
At the time, the province praised the construction of the dam.
Officials boasted that their decision “ended the drying up of the Huangguoshu Waterfall story.”