Huangtengxia, west of the city, is Qingyuan's second major gorge scenic area and slightly less developed than Gulongxia, making it a reasonable alternative for those who want more walking and less queueing. The gorge cuts through folded limestone, and the trails along the canyon walls give access to a series of pools and cascades that fill with kayakers and swimmers in summer.
The bamboo rafting on the upper river section is more genuinely scenic than the engineered slides elsewhere in the region: flat bamboo platforms poled between limestone outcrops on calm water, with the gorge walls rising on either side. The morning light in the narrow canyon, before the tour groups arrive, has the quality of classical Chinese landscape painting, which is not by accident — this kind of scenery was the direct model for that tradition.