Tongling Dripping Water Cliff

Tongling Dripping Water Cliff

Dripping Water Cliff, also known as Bead-splashing Cliff, is recorded in the *Tongling County Annals* as follows: “Dripping Water Cliff is located in Hengshan Ridge Valley, sixty li southeast of the county; its cliffs are steep and precipitous, resembling a painted scene. A spring flows beside it, cascading like a Milky Way.”

Dripping Water Cliff was formed by karst faulting, stretching over 300 meters in length and about 30 meters in height. The top of the cliff is flat, covering an area of more than 20 acres. The cliffs are covered with lush trees, entwined with vines, and dotted with rugged rocks, with some precariously hanging as if about to fall. On the upper right side of the base of the cliff, there is a cave with a narrow entrance that only allows one person to pass through. The cave twists upward and, at a height of three meters, gradually widens to seven or eight meters. The cave is about 21 meters deep, with winding passages that feel like a maze. Standing beneath the cliff, a clear spring cascades down from the 30-meter-high cliff top with a thunderous roar. Where the water splashes, beads and pearls seem to spray forth, accompanied by a fine mist like light rain or smoke, resembling fluttering sheer veils swaying in the wind. In the sunlight, it looks like shimmering rainbows appearing and disappearing. The drifting drizzle brings a refreshing coolness that instantly makes one feel relaxed and delighted. With the changing seasons, the waterfall at Dripping Water Cliff takes on various forms. In spring, it sparkles as beads and pearls cascade down; in midsummer, the waterfall plunges down with majestic force; in autumn, thin streams trickle down, murmuring morning and evening; in winter, icicles hang down, glistening crystal clear. From afar, Dripping Water Cliff looks like a gigantic natural mural, ever-changing and displaying different scenes across the four seasons, hanging between heaven and earth. Local villagers consciously protect this natural wonder, and the site has been incorporated into the local social development master plan. An increasing number of tourists visit to personally experience the poetic imagery of “waterfalls plunging straight down three thousand feet, as if the Milky Way had tumbled from the ninth heaven.”