Facts about Huangguoshu National Park
Huangguoshu Scenic Area is located in the Zhengning Buyi and Miao Autonomous County, Guizhou Province, 45 kilometers (28 miles) southwest of Anshun and about 150 kilometers (93.2 miles) southwest of Guiyang, the capital of Guizhou. When the Baishui River flows to the local place, the water drops and turns into nine-level waterfalls. Huangguoshu Waterfall is the largest one among the waterfall cluster, and the center of the scenic area; it is well-known at home and abroad as China’s No. 1 Waterfall and the largest waterfall in Asia.
It is named after a common local plant ficus virens, homophonic to “Huangguoshu” in Chinese. There are dozens of waterfalls in the scenic area, together with karst caves, stone forests, and underground lakes. People who want to see karst landscapes, as well as the waterfalls, cannot miss Huangguoshu definitely. The peaks around the waterfalls are densely covered with dense forests, which is breathtakingly beautiful.
Best Time to Visit
The best time to Huanghuoshu Scenic Area is from June to October every year. In other months, it is the local dry season. In the flood season, you can see the waterfall with the largest water flow. The waterfalls pour down rapidly, which is magnificent. Occasionally, the water mist rises and the rainbows appear on sunny days.
Top Things to See and to Do in Huangguoshu National Park
Marvel at the largest waterfall in Asia
Huangguoshu Waterfall, as one of the major points and the key landscape in the scenic area, is absolutely the must-see. Facing the giant waterfall 77.8 meters (about 255 feet) high and 101 meters (110 yards) wide, you’ll feel yourselves small and the nature is extremely great. There are six observation platforms in all directions of the waterfall; you can enjoy yourself fully with the beauty. For the shutterbugs, it’s also a perfect chance to take pictures of the fantastic waterfall, especially the panoramic pictures would be very stunning.
The cave in the cliff behind the waterfall is called “Water Curtain Cave”, as the waterfall is like a natural curtain of water covering the cave. In the cave, you can put on a raincoat and then get close to Huangguoshu Waterfall in person, to witness the majestic scenery of falling water in front of you. By the way, is it like the home of Monkey King in the famous Chinese story?
Tianxingqiao Area with Stone Forests on Water
Tianxingqiao, 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) downstream of Huangguoshu Waterfall, is another attraction in the Huangguoshu Scenic Area. Apart from the diverse waterfalls, Tianxingqiao is famous for its wonderful and natural combination of stones, plants, and water. Tianxing Cave is a spectacular karst cave there, in which the four over 20-meter-high (66-foot-high) stalagnates reach the dome. To the stone forests on water, you’ll see the river flows through the bizarre stones, as the lower parts of the stones have been submerged into water. Meanwhile, varieties of exuberant plants grow in the stones as well as surroundings.
Wide Doupotang Waterfall
Only 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) upstream of Huangguoshu Waterfall, Doupotang Waterfall is also famous in the scenic area. Although it’s not as magnificent as Huangguoshu Waterfall, it is wider with a top width of 105 meters (115 yards) and a height of 21 meters (69 feet), which makes it the widest waterfall among the Huangguoshu waterfall cluster. On the top of Doupotang Waterfall is a vast karst pool, and the waterfall is formed on the wide calcified benchland. Interestingly, every time before the flood comes, the waterfall will make a roaring sound, so it is also called “Roar Waterfall”.
Huangguoshu Waterfall Festivals
The Huangguoshu Waterfall Festival is held near the Huangguoshu Scenic Area in the middle of September every year. During the festival, there are some ethnic exhibitions and many ethnic activities, such as local ethnic song performances and competitions of Miao, Bouyei, Dong nationalities.
In addition, Double Sixth Bouyei Cultural Festival is the grandest festival at local, which is on the sixth day of the sixth Chinese lunar month. If you want to learn some Bouyei customs and culture, you may travel to Huangguoshu Scenic Area during the festival.
How to get to Huangguoshu Scenic Area
From Anshun:
You can get to Anshun West Bus Station for the bus to Huangguoshu. The bus station is just beside Anshun West Railway Station. The bus departs every 20 minutes during 08:00-18:20 and arrives at Huangguoshu Scenic Area in around 45 minutes. The ticket price is 22 RMB per one.
From Guiyang:
At Guiyang Jinyang Bus Station, you can find the bus departs to Huangguoshu every hour from 7:30 to 12:00, which takes you 2-2.5 hours and 55RMB to reach the scenic area.
There are also direct buses from Guiyang Longdongbao Airport to Huangguoshu Scenic Area. However, there are only 4 buses that depart every three hours during 7:00-16:00. The duration on the way may last for 2 hours, and the price is 90 RMB for a single trip.
What’s more, you can go to Zhenning at first, where a larger number of buses run to Huangguoshu every day. From the Zhenning Bus Station, the bus takes 30 minutes and 7 RMB for an adult. There would be a bus departs every 15 minutes.
Tips for visiting Huangguoshu National Park
As the sites in Huangguoshu Scenic Area are separated by some distance, you may take the sightseeing vehicle there for convenience, which takes you 50 RMB per person.
The trials in the scenic area are slippery, especially on rainy days and those near Water Curtain Cave. Thus never wear high-heeled shoes or plastic sandals.
Don’t visit there during a thunderstorm. Even on sunny days, take a raincoat with you. If you take the camera, smartphone, and other electronic devices, it’s essential to prevent them from being damp.
There are many mosquitoes in the scenic area in summer, so be sure to apply mosquito repellent in advance.
