Changbai Waterfall () is a -tall alpine

waterfall A waterfall is any point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in seve ...

Northeast China Northeast China () is a geographical region of China, consisting officially of three provinces Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang. The heartland of the region is the Northeast China Plain, the largest plain in China with an area of over . The regi ...

, located to the north slope of the Changbai Mountain, the tallest summit of the Changbai Mountain Range between

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

Geography

With a drop of , the Changbai Waterfall is in the

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...

as the largest waterfall originating from a volcanic crater lake. It is most dramatic during the summer snow-melt season from the Heaven Lake () basin. Tianchi lake is usually frozen over until late June or July. Flow over the waterfall is reduced in winter months but it never completely freezes over since the lake drains from depth below the ice and the water is geothermally heated beneath year-round. The current China–North Korea border passes nearby, through the center of the alpine Lake Tianchi. Julong Hot Springs below the falls create pools full of colorful algae that thrive in the geothermal water upwelling. This contributes headwater flow to the young Songhua river. The Songhua flows northward into the Amur, forming China's border with Russia, and eventually into the Sea of Okhotsk facing Sakhalin Island and the northern Pacific.

Culture

Folk religion

Koreans and Jilin residents traditionally consider the waters of the lake to be sacred. Many Korean-speaking natives bring a bottle to capture some sacred water.

Tourism

Access to the waterfall is available year-round via a sheltered VIP path up the mountain (visible in photos to the right of the falls). The path is fully enclosed but has windows spaced along the steps. The enclosure protects the path from blockage by snowfall and ice, and is closed during summer.

References

External links