China has created the world’s biggest man-made waterfall by electrically pumping water down the side of a skyscraper.
The artificial water feature is 108 metres (350ft) high and cascades down into a tank at the bottom of the Liebian Building, a hotel in the the southwestern city of Guiyang.
The waterfall is managed by Guizhou Ludiya Property Management Co. and “is designed to be a tourist attraction”, says the Daily Mail.
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A spokesperson, Mr Cheng, told Chinese news site Kan Kan News that a lot of the water comes from recycled tap water or rain water.
“Our building has a four-storey underground water storage and drainage system, from which the water is pumped and recycled,” said Cheng. To run the water, the electricity bill for just one hour is 800 yuan (£89), he added.
“That’s why we don’t switch on the waterfall every day - only for special festivities in the city,” he said.
When it does operate, “it is only switched on for 10 to 20 minutes at a time”, says Metro.
According to The Times, the state-owned newspaper the Beijing Morning Post questioned whether the waterfall was a waste of resources when the Chinese government has made energy conservation a top priority.
“Such a power-guzzling man-made waterfall is particularly thorny,” an editorial read. “A city definitely needs man-made sites but it doesn’t mean any novelty at any cost.
“For a company, it cannot squander money however it wants, but it should consider its social responsibility and set a positive example, and relevant authorities should curb waste of public resources.”
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