Shaanxi Travelogue: Yan'an Yellow River Hukou Waterfall
On the morning of May 18, 2024, after having breakfast at the hotel at 7 AM, the day's itinerary was a one-day trip to the Yellow River Hukou Waterfall. For the same reason — inconvenient transportation — although there are many buses from Yan'an to Yichuan, there is no bus from Yichuan to the Hukou Waterfall scenic area (on the Shaanxi side). If you take a bus to Shanxi, it only goes to the bridgehead, and you are still a few kilometers from the visitor center. Moreover, the visitor center for the Hukou Waterfall scenic area on the Shaanxi side is located south of the bridge crossing the Yellow River between Shaanxi and Shanxi, while the scenic area itself is north of the bridgehead. This back-and-forth increases the distance between the visitor center and the scenic area, so the sightseeing bus fare is as high as 40 yuan. On the Shanxi side, Hukou Waterfall is just a bit north of the Shanxi bridgehead; you get off at the bridgehead and arrive at the scenic area. The sightseeing bus fare from the visitor center to the scenic area is 20 yuan, half the price of the Shaanxi side. The ticket prices on both sides are the same, 100 yuan. A one-day trip from Linfen to Hukou Waterfall within Shanxi costs 153 yuan, including tickets, sightseeing bus fare, and the bus fare from Linfen to Hukou. In contrast, a one-day trip from Yan'an to Hukou costs 128 yuan, but does not include tickets or sightseeing bus fare. Comparing the two, the value for money is self-evident. However, since we had visited Hukou Waterfall on the Shanxi side before, this time we obviously chose the one-day trip from Yan'an in Shaanxi. Our registration fee was 128 yuan, and we paid an additional 40 yuan for the sightseeing bus.
At about 7:40 AM, a tour bus picked us up from the hotel. This tour was still full of passengers. The one-day trip to Hukou Waterfall also included two bonus stops: one was Nanniwan, but we only stopped at the scenic area entrance for 20 minutes to take photos, without any in-depth visit. The second was the former settlement of Beijing educated youth, a set of cave dwellings where Beijing sent-down youth once lived. It has now been developed into a tourist attraction and also served as a dining stop on this tour. The group meal cost 30 yuan per person, but we opted out and solved lunch with our own dry food. After the meal, we went directly to the Hukou Waterfall scenic area.
We arrived at the Hukou Waterfall visitor center around 2 PM, then took a sightseeing bus into the scenic area. The bus traveled along the Yellow River bank, passing under the bridge, and reached the waterfall area around 2:30 PM.
Hukou Waterfall is a national scenic area and a national AAAAA-level tourist attraction. It borders Hukou Town, Ji County, Linfen City, Shanxi Province to the east, and Hukou Town, Yichuan County, Yan'an City, Shaanxi Province to the west. It is a shared scenic area between the two provinces.
Hukou Waterfall is the second-largest waterfall in China and the largest yellow waterfall in the world. When the Yellow River flows here, the stone cliffs on both banks stand steep, and the river mouth narrows like the spout of a teapot, hence the name Hukou Waterfall (the mouth of a teapot). Upstream, the Yellow River is 300 meters wide, but within a distance of less than 500 meters, it is compressed to a width of 20–30 meters. With a flow of 1,000 cubic meters per second, the river water plunges down from a steep cliff over 20 meters high, creating the momentum of 'a thousand miles of Yellow River gathered in one pot.'
In December 2013, the 'Yichuan County Yellow River Hukou Water Conservancy Scenic Area' was rated as one of the '13th Batch of National Water Conservancy Scenic Areas' by the Water Conservancy Scenic Area Construction and Management Leading Group of the Ministry of Water Resources of the People's Republic of China. The award of the National Yellow River Hukou Water Conservancy Scenic Area honor became the fourth national title for the Hukou scenic area, following the National Geopark and Geological Relic Protection Area, National Key Scenic Area, and National 4A-level Scenic Area, and it became a National Water Conservancy Scenic Area for Yan'an City. At the 2018 China Yellow River Tourism Conference, it was named one of the 'China Yellow River 50 Scenic Spots.'
The Shaanxi side of Hukou Waterfall is located about 35 kilometers east of Yichuan County town, Yan'an City. When the Yellow River roars into the Qin-Jin Gorge, the river width suddenly contracts from over 400 meters to 50 meters, cascading into a stone groove with a drop of 30 meters. Because its shape resembles water being poured from a teapot, it is named Hukou Waterfall. Here, the Yellow River is gathered by the canyon, converges into a single stream, rushes and roars downwards, plunges into a deep pool, kicks up huge waves, and stirs up clouds of mist and spray, creating an extremely spectacular scene. Standing by the river and watching, one cannot help but be awestruck. It is also hailed as a symbol of 'national spirit,' 'the soul of the Yellow River,' and the spirit of the Chinese nation's indomitable courage.
Since this was the dry season for the Yellow River, the water volume was significantly smaller. Only at the Hukou itself was there some momentum, gushing and pouring out, but it was crowded with people, making it impossible to get close. The Shaanxi side had more tourists than the Shanxi side, and there were fewer viewing spots, so there was hardly any room to stand. Although the weather was clear that day, a white hair wind kicked up, blowing sand and dust along the shore, which greatly spoiled the scenery. Since the scenery at Hukou Waterfall was relatively monotonous, we began to leave in less than an hour. Around 4 PM, we returned to the visitor center, took the bus back to Yan'an, and arrived in Yan'an city around 5:30 PM. We got off the bus, had dinner nearby, and then returned to the hotel to rest.
