The waterfall is one of the amazing creation of our Mother Nature with the volume of water roaring down and the sound it makes. Standing before a waterfall raging from a rock in a high place into a pool or flowing river below makes you feel upbeat, a therapeutic process.
The word waterfall in Chinese is translated as “瀑布“ （Pubu）which literally means “splashing cloth”. The “splashing” stresses the dynamic drop of water, like the pouring of thousands of troops and horses, or the splashing of singing; and “cloth” refers to its modelling, some resemble lucid gauze, some vigorous cloth curtain.
No matter what kind of waterfall, its uniqueness and shape are its charm! Let’s enjoy the beauty of the Top 10 Waterfalls in China!
1. Hukou Waterfall 壶口瀑布
Location: in the middle reaches of Yellow River in the Loess Plateau
Uniqueness: the largest yellow waterfalls in the world
Hukou Falls at Yellow River is one of the most beautiful waterfalls in China and the largest yellow waterfall in the world.
It is located in the middle reaches of Yellow River in the Loess Plateau hinterlands between Shaanxi Province and Shanxi Province. So Hukou Waterfall can be viewed either from Shaanxi Province side (Xian as its capital city) or Shanxi Province side ( Taiyuan as its capital city ) since Yellow River is a border river dividing Shaanxi Province and Shanxi Province.
Check out the links below for more information:
How to visit Hukou Waterfall
Shaanxi Red Tour ( including a short trip to Hukou Waterfall)
The visitors viewing on the Hukou Waterfalls Shaanxi side has outnumbered those on Shanxi side. The viewing place on Shaanxi side is lower than Shanxi side, which makes the waterfalls looks much more magnificent than viewed from Shanxi side.
2. Huangguoshu Waterfall 黄果树瀑布
Location: in Anshu in Guizhou Province in the northwest of China.
Uniqueness: the largest waterfall in China
Huangguoshu Waterfall is definitely your first choice on your Guizhou travel schedule. Huangguoshu Fall is the largest in China, 77.8 meters high, 101 meters wide with thunderous roars that can be heard with 5 kilometers.
Check out the following links for more information:
How to visit Huangguoshu Waterfall
3 Days Guizhou Karst Landscape Tour
The waterfall is named after a locally popular tree named “Huangguoshu”. Huanghuoshu Waterfall belongs to the typical karst eroded waterfalls. In 1999, Huangguoshu waterfalls is listed as the largest waterfalls clusters in the world by Guinness World Records.
3. Nuorilang Waterfall in Jiuzhaigou 九寨沟诺日朗瀑布
Location: in the Shuzheng Valley of Jiuzhaigou at the sea-level of 2365m, Sichuan
Uniqueness: The cleanest and purest waterfall clusters in China
Listed as World Cultural Heritage in 1992, Jiuzhaigou is famous for its beautiful water – multi-level waterfalls and colorful lakes. Jiuzhaigou is located in Jiuzhaigou County of the Aba Tibetan Qiang Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province, 436km north of Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan Province.
Check out the following links for more information:
Jiuzhaigou Tour
Jiuzhaigou Trip
5 Day Chengdu Jiuzhaigou Huanglong Tour
Nuorilang Waterfall is 270m wide, 24.5m high with a fall of 20m, a kind of calcified waterfalls, the widest waterfalls in China. “Nuorilan” in Tibetan means “great”. The best time to visit Nuorilang Waterfalls is in Spring and Autumn.
4. Detian Waterfall 德天瀑布
Location: in Daxin County, 145 km southwest from Nanning City in Guangxi Province, bordering Vietnam on the south
Uniqueness: the largest transnational waterfall in Asia
Detian Waterfallv is located in Daxin County, is 145 kilometers southwest from Nanning City, Guangxi, bordering Vietnam on the south. There are over 40 places of national spots concreted within the site, among which Detian Fall is of the most fame.
Check out the links below for more information:
Guangxi Tour
Top 10 Attractions in Guangxi
The Detian Waterfall is over 200 meters wide and has a drop of more than 70 meters. Its water rushes down a three-tiered cliff with tremendous force.
It is the largest waterfall in Asia, and the second largest transnational waterfall in the world, connecting with a waterfall in Vietnam. The fall is awe-inspiring, and its thunder is audible before it even comes into view. The changing seasons transform the natural scenery of the waterfall throughout the year.
5. Three Gorges Waterfall 三峡大瀑布
Location: in Yiling District, Yichang City，Hubei Province
Uniqueness: Even no rain for a long time, it is still full of splashing springs
Three Gorges Waterfall, formerly known as Baoguoshu Waterfall, is located in Yiling District, 29km from the central city of Yichang. The waterfall is actually within a national AAAAA level Tourist Area which is a natural geological museum showing the Sinian, Ordovician, Cambrian and other geological ages. It is also a national geological park integrating canyon, karst cave, landscape and fossil.
Three Gorges Waterfall is 5 kilometers in length, with more than 30 waterfalls of various sizes distributed along the way. These waterfalls are in different shapes, such as Tiger Waterfall, One Line Waterfall, Pearl Waterfall, Chain Waterfall and Five Waterfalls coming one after another, etc. The main waterfall, 102m high and 80m wide, is 30m higher than Huangguoshu Waterfall.
6. Lushan Three-tier Waterfall 庐山三叠泉瀑布
Location: In Lushan Mountain Scenic Spot, Jiujiang City, Jiangxi Province
Uniqueness: The most magnificent and beautiful karst waterfalls in the world
Lushan Waterfall is mainly composed of Three-tier Waterfall, Kaixian Waterfall, Shimenjian Waterfall, Huanglongtan Waterfall and Wulongtan Waterfall. It is reputed as one of the ten most beautiful waterfalls in China.
Dubbed as “the most magnificent and beautiful karst waterfall in the world”, the Three-tier Waterfall on Lushan Mountain is a must for tourists who climb to Lushan Mountain in ancient and modern times. The roaring water flows out of the cliff mouth of Wulao Peak and falls down in three levels, so it is named “Three-tier Waterfall”. Lushan Three-tier Waterfall is reputed as “the first landscape of Lushan Mountain”.
The waterfall falls 155 meters down to the lake through three tiers with the third tier most specutacular, 50 meters high and plunges straight into the lake.
7. Maling River Waterfall 马岭河瀑布
Location: in Xingyi, southwest of Guizhou Province
Uniqueness: the largest waterfall cluster in China
The Maling River Waterfall is composed of over 60 waterfalls along the Maling River Grand Canyon. The canyon is 74.8 km long with an average depth of more than 100 mand a width of 80-200 m.
The most magnificent is the 2km-long hanging cliff which has 13 waterfalls, forming a spectacular waterfall group. The most amazing is the Pearl Waterfall, which tumbles from the cliff top falling down for 200m, hitting the rocks and producing thousands of water beads shining in the sun.
8. Diaoshuilou Waterfall 吊水楼瀑布（镜泊湖瀑布）
Location: on the northern side of Jingpo Lake, 103km southwest of Mudanjiang, Heilongjiang
Uniqueness: the largest basalt waterfall in the world (世界最大的玄武岩瀑布)
So Diaoshuilou Waterfall is locates 103km southwest of Mudanjiang, Heilongjiang Province. The lake occupies an area of 1200 square meters. It is a famous scenic spot as well as an ideal summer resort of North China. The lake has been called “West Lake of North China”.
Actually Diaoshuilou Waterfall now has become a seasonal waterfall, and basically you can see its great beauty only in July and August, the local rainy season. It is shaped like Niagara Falls in Canada.
At the best time of the rainy or flood season, Diaoshuilou Waterfall reaches the width of more than 300 meters with the drop over20 meters. The pool below it is 60 meters deep and is called Black Dragon Pool. The roaring waterfall produces the thunder-like sound, its torrent howling and flying, the water striking the stones, the white stream surging, the colorful rainbow appearing from the fog.
9. Jiulong Waterfall 罗平九龙瀑布群
Location: located 22 kilometers north of Luoping County, Yunnan Province
Uniqueness: the only ten-tier waterfall in China
Jiulong Waterfall is named for the local Jiulong River. Basically Jiulong Waterfall refers to a cluster of waterfalls in this area, which now has become a national AAAA Level Tourist Spot.
Due to the special geological structure and thousands of years of erosion of the current, there are ten-tier waterfall groups with different height and width and different shapes. The beauty of the waterfalls is beyond words, and the shallow and deep pools between the waterfalls are varied and colorful.
10. Hailuogou Grand Ice Falls 海螺沟大冰瀑布
Location: Camp No.04, Hailuogou, Moxi Town (磨西镇), Sichuan
Uniqueness: the highest and grandest icefall in China;
Hailuogou (literally Conch Gully ) is situated in the southeast of Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan Province, on the east slope of Mount Gongga (7556 meters ). Hailuogou Glacier is regarded as a low altitude modern oceanic glacier. Also known as No.1 Glacier, Hailuogou Glacier is 14.7 km long ( the longest among the 71 glaciers on Mount Gongga) with highest height of 6750 meters and lowest 2850 meters.
Read my another article Camp No.04 at Hailuogou Glacier for more information.
Hailuogou Glacier ( No.01 Glacier ) has three cascading steps from high to low: 1) The First Step – Neve Basin (粒雪盆), or firn basin, granular snow, the upper part of the glacier, where it has not yet been compressed into ice; 2) The Second Step – Large Ice Fall (大冰瀑布), 500 to 1100 meters wide and 1080 high grand glacier cascade which is the highest and grandest icefall in China; 3) The Third Step: Glacier Tongue (冰川舌), 6 km long and penetrating into the pristine forest, forming a rare natural landscape with the mix of glacier and forest.
Hassle-free China Guided Tours
If you don’t want to go the do-it-yourself route and prefer the hassle-free escorted tours, here are some options for China guided tours:
Top China Private Tours
Top China Small Group Tours
Top China Train Tour
Top China Yangtze Cruise Tour
Top China Silk Road Tour
Further Readings
Top 10 Places to Visit in China
10 Fascinating Facts about China
How to Pack for your China Trip
Plugs and Sockets in China
China Tour Packages
Learning Useful Chinese Phrases for Travellers
How to Recognise Chinese Currency
Top 10 Travel Experiences in China
10 Most Scenic Drives in China
Top 10 Most Beautiful Mountains in China
The Top 10 Most Beautiful Lakes in China
Top 10 Most Beautiful Grasslands in China
Top 10 Most Beautiful Rivers in China
Top 10 most beautiful waterfalls in China
Top 10 Places to See Autumn Leaves in China
Top 10 Most Beautiful Villages in China
Top 10 Old Towns in China
The 10 Most Beautiful Museums in China
Top 10 China Tourist Scams
Top 10 Souvenirs in China
Any questions, just drop a line.
