The morning started on a rather scary note after we got onto the highway towards Guizhou's possibly most famous attraction; check out the video, specifically after the 7-second mark! Visibility was so bad; i was dead worried that i would die in Guizhou.
Survived we did and at about 11.30 am, we arrived at the entrance of this AAAAA-China-classified scenic area. It's tempting to see the pots of steaming hot sweet corns, peanuts and sweet potatoes for sale!
This scenic area is divided into three parts and named after its most notable natural treasure, Huangguoshu Waterfall (黄果树大瀑布). There's in fact another waterfall on the upstream which is lesser known even though in terms of width; it's wider than the famous one.
Doupoutang Waterfall (陡坡塘瀑布) - 21 meters in height and 105 meters in width, it's said to "roar loudly whenever there's a flood". Hence, it is also known as the roaring waterfall.
Relaxed atmosphere as we strolled from entrance to the waterfall. Saw that bridge in the background; you can actually walk across and make your way down to the huangguoshu waterfall. It would take longer of course and for us on a tour; it's faster to take their internal shuttle.
Wait, lunch shall take precedence first! And i had this can of beer which was the tastiest i had throughout this trip; can't really explain using my limited vocabulary but it sure was flavourful.
Restaurant where we had our lunch (and beer) was at a hotel in the scenic area as the local government had clamped down on standalone restaurants within the designated scenic area due to the massive jams in the past. Hence, we had to make full use of our legs to walk; distance was rather long but at least there's no slope or bumps.
From a distance, i had spotted the natural wonder that appeared in the opening segment of childhood's favourite drama serial; the waterfall that Sun Wukong called its home in the Journey to the West!
It's a big hit in Singapore and my grandparents would tape down each episode so that the restless grandchildren, without the modern distractions like phone and computer, can have something to do.
Dad was in his late 20's then, when the drama was broadcast in Singapore, and he was as addicted to the show as us kids. And for someone who loves to visit China for its scenery; he has been looking forward to this breathtaking item on the itinerary for a long time and he wasn't disappointed!
Exact spot from the scene in the drama! Maybe i should photoshop in a mini version of Sun Wukong; as if he was flying into the waterfall. By the way, if you have watched the show, or even read the novel, you would be aware of this water curtain cave (水帘洞) that's behind the waterfall?
It's not fiction; there's really a cave behind the waterfall and you can in fact walk right through it! Take a closer look at the picture and you would see a line of visitors in the higher-middle of the waterfall.
More photos! Obviously we wanted to check out the cave; we had paid for the tour package, spent hours on the plane, days in Guizhou and there's no way we would miss it just because there is a risk of getting soaked!
Done with the cave; wet and dark inside and it's surprisingly not huge. It's more a 134-meter pathway that cuts across from the back of the waterfall. The above photo was the queue lining up to enter the cave; it's not that crowded as the season we went isn't really the peak for tourism.
A happy dad after fulfilling his dream to visit the beautiful Huangguoshu Waterfall and check out the water curtain cave. Oh i almost forget; the waterfall is 77.8 meters tall and 101-meter wide and its name came from the yellow fruit trees that dotted the area.
Me preparing to take a time-lapse as we had ample time to spend. I am glad i took it as i lost my DSLR the next day. Without all these photo pictures and videos, it would be quite sad if i couldn't document this wonderful journey i had made to China.
Check out the compiled video here which included the slow motion videos for the Huangguoshu Waterfall, the time lapsed one i took of the waterfall and another time-lapse video of this super long escalator ride.
There's a bonsai garden right at the end of the escalator with over 3,000 over bonsai plants. For us, we were smitten with the flowering sakuras!
Last stop for this scenic area was tianxing bridge area; sadly, i didn't take any picture using my phone except for the one above which was at the end of our journey. To be honest, the tianxing bridge area was boring although two things stood out; the tree that looks like a lady and Chinese characters that were carved onto a cliff.
Setting sun! Our travel mates couldn't resist and bought steam sweet potatoes to share with us! Our batch was nice and cost only RMB 5.00 for 500 grams.
Our herbal dinner (said to be healthy and nutritional) was lousy and my dad and i sneaked out to the nearby food street after checking in to our hotel. As tourists, we didn't know about the food street but i happened to eavesdrop the conversation the tour guide had with our tour leader!
Coincidentally, we bumped into them and other travel mates! It made sense for us to dine together and this was the best ever meal i had in my trip to Guizhou! The hot pan is like a better version of the mala that's quite popular in Singapore nowadays and we added stinky tofu and even beef cuts!
In addition, we ordered skewers of chicken skin, ice blended deserts (the delish cucumber and glutinuous rice flavour) and other portion of stinky tofu from another stall (which was honestly the worst i had in my whole life)! Total damage for the hot pan; RMB 95 which was only about S$20.
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