Uh-oh ... who left the bath taps on?
China has created the world’s biggest manmade waterfall by pumping water down the side of a skyscraper hotel.
People in the southwestern city of Guiyang telephoned newspapers to report what they believed was a massive water leak. When reporters arrived at the building they realised that the owner of Liebian Mansion had created a waterfall that gushes down the side.
‘‘It looks like a white satin ribbon from the distance,’’ one report said. ‘‘Upon a closer look, it is a real waterfall’’.
The waterfall is turned on periodically – yesterday it ran for hours when the city hosted a marathon and runners raced past the 121m building. It has a massive tank on the ground floor that takes two hours to fill. Four 185-kilowatt pumps draw water to the top floors. Managers at the hotel said that it cost at least NZ$170 in electrical bills to run the waterfall for an hour.
One social media commentator wrote: ‘‘It’s quite creative. It’s quite a scene.’’
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 manmade waterfall is particularly thorny,’’ an editorial read. ‘‘A city definitely needs manmade sites but it doesn’t mean any novelty at any cost.’ - The Times’