Seven Cascades Strung Like Pearls Amid Drifting Colourful Clouds

Qili Lake lies within Qilijie Village on the western outskirts of the city, and the Seven-Tier Waterfall stands to the northwest of the lake area. Stretching from Sow Pool to Gorge Head, this terrain boasts a steep gradient and precipitous cliffs. The winding narrow mountain track passing Seven-Tier Ridge, Front-and-Back Cauldrons and Golden Shoulder Pole spans more than ten kilometres, with a total vertical drop exceeding 200 metres.

Mountains stretch endlessly across the Chishe watershed. Aside from sheer bare rock faces, every view unfolds with lush, verdant foliage. As a verse goes: Mountain springs seep through stone crevices; moonlight filters through tree boughs. A mountain brook winds its way downhill following the natural slope of the land.

Countless mountain springs converge in the valley floor at Gorge Head to form this brook. The water twists and turns over undulating riverbeds, flowing downstream with vivid sounds and vivid sights. Where sheer rock bluffs block its path, the brook plunges to form waterfalls, which carve deep pools beneath the falls. Gorge Head Brook is dotted with innumerable waterfalls and plunge pools, among which the Three Major Cascades and Four Minor Cascades stand out as the most remarkable.

The Seven-Tier Waterfall is a cluster of cascades stacked tier upon tier. The falls vary widely in size and each bears a unique charm: some are broad and voluminous, some tall and lengthy, some plummet straight down, and others spill diagonally in scattered streams.

Leaving the lakeside road and hiking roughly one kilometre southwest up a mountain trail, you will faintly hear a rumble like distant thunder echoing from deep within the mountains. Soon an ancient stone arch bridge comes into view, arching over a plunge pool.

Standing on the old bridge, you behold a waterfall crashing down the sheer rock wall with overwhelming, thunderous force. Torrential rapids plunge headlong into the unfathomable Sow Pool, churning up mysterious swirling eddies that stir a sense of awe and trepidation in onlookers.

Follow the eastern side of Sow Pool and scramble upward along the stone face, clinging to vines and tree trunks. After barely a hundred metres, sheer vertical cliffs tower on both sides, and the riverbed juts out over the bluff to form a natural stone barrier. Water surges over the precipice and cascades downward. An old poem aptly describes it: For fifty feet the stream remains solid water; below that height it dissolves into mist. Ancient primeval forest blocks out most sunlight all around, and tangled ancient vines weave a dense network. Here you may live the poetic line: Walk to where the water ends, sit and watch the clouds rise. Enclosed by towering rock walls, the spot feels like looking up at the sky from the bottom of a well. Descending into the valley floor, visitors feel as if they have wandered before the mythic Water Curtain Cave.

A smaller mountain trail winds upward along the western bank of Sow Pool, leading to the Third-Tier, Fourth-Tier and further cascades. This stretch is generally inaccessible to ordinary tourists, and the path cannot be found without a local native guide. Only a handful of local villagers who hunt giant salamanders have ever ventured deep into the Seven-Tier Waterfall complex