Gulongxia, about forty kilometres north of the city, is a river gorge where the attraction is less the scenery than the infrastructure built over it. The centrepiece is the canyon chute system — concrete channels that follow the contours of the gorge, sending visitors in rubber dinghies down steep drops, through dark tunnels, and around tight bends with the water pressure alone doing the steering. Families from Guangzhou come specifically for this, particularly in summer when the temperature makes cold water appealing.
Beyond the chutes, the gorge itself is worth exploring: limestone walls rising from the river, pools between the rapids, and forested slopes with hiking paths that see considerably fewer visitors than the water slides. The glass-bottomed viewing platform extending over a significant drop has become obligatory for social media purposes. Allow a full day for the combination of activities; the chutes alone take half the morning just for the queues.