Baihua Ridge, the 300-Metre Waterfall of Hainan’s Centre
百花岭 Bǎi huā lǐng, the Hundred Flowers Ridge, stands six to seven kilometres from 营根 Yíng gēn, the county seat of 琼中黎族苗族自治县 Qióngzhōng lí zú miáo zú zìzhìxiàn in the exact centre of Hainan – close enough that the town’s hotels work as the park’s room stock, under the official formula of tourism on the mountain, lodging in the town. The old name, the Baihua Ridge Scenic Area, was among the first scenic areas Hainan’s provincial government ever designated; a 2014 rebuild turned it into the Hainan Baihua Ridge Tropical Rainforest Culture Tourism Zone, and in August 2020 the new version took a national 4A rating – the first national 4A in Hainan’s central counties, with a drive toward the centre’s first 5A now running. The dome of the hill tops out a little over 1,100 metres, holding a three-way balance with 五指山 Wǔzhǐ shān to the southeast and 黎母山 Lí mǔ shān to the northwest; more than ninety per cent of the ground under it is forested, and the mean temperature sits near 22 degrees Celsius, which is the county’s own argument for summer.
The waterfall is the headliner, and its numbers deserve care. 百花瀑布 Bǎi huā pùbù drops more than 300 metres down the cliff face from a collecting basin of nearly two square kilometres on the second peak, whose saddle sits at 700 metres – one of Hainan’s tallest waterfalls, and on the county government’s own phrasing one of the tallest in the country. The old official publicity counted three tiers down the rock – 金龙吐珠 Jīnlóng tǔzhū, the golden dragon spitting pearls, then 灵丹妙药 língdān miàoyào, the miracle elixir, where the cliff runs knife-edged and the water is said to be drinkable, then 天女散花 tiānnǚ sànhuā, the fairy scattering flowers, fanning out between two old trees before it settles into 白肤潭 Báifū tán, the White Skin Pool, whose water a folk tale credits with turning a dark-skinned girl fair; newer official counts say four tiers, and some visitor reviews claim five, so read the fall as cascading in several tiers and let the day’s signage win. On clear days the spray throws rainbows, and the light goes soft and photographic after midday.
The scale of the ambition around it is a provincial matter. The Baihua Ridge development is listed among Hainan’s key projects for both the 13th and 14th Five-Year plans, with a planned area of some 25 square kilometres meant to fold eco-sightseeing, forest wellness, boutique lodging and duty-free shopping into one resort zone, built by the private developer 琼中海鼎 Qióngzhōng Hǎidǐng Tourism Investment Development. The positioning goes further: the park is billed as the northern gateway of the Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park, meant to carry the national park’s visitor lodging and catering as its logistics base, with the county seat across the valley supplying the beds.
Inside the gate the sights stack along one road. 百花天池 Bǎi huā tiānchí, the Heaven Pool, is the lake at the waterfall’s source, mirror-flat, with the Guanyin Lotus Stone and the Golden Turtle Stone along its shore; past the viewing pavilion the Bodhi Maze opens through a gate and a heart-path of old growth; and a 520-metre glass walkway runs through the treetops, the canopy-level route that gives the park its photograph. The signature ride is the rainforest speed slide, a glass water chute of two to two-and-a-bit kilometres down which riders descend in pairs on inflatable boats. Near the entrance a century-old banyan stands thirty metres tall with a crown spreading over two hundred square metres – a single tree posing as a whole grove – and the forest around it performs the classic rainforest tricks: strangler figs, cauliflory, buttress roots, gardens in the air. A temple to Guanyin sits on the hillside, and the festival ledger has its own lines: a bee culture festival ran here in 2020 and 2021, and a Li-Miao wedding-customs day came in 2024.
Plan four to five hours. The working order is shuttle to the Heaven Pool first, then down on foot through the Bodhi Maze and the treetop walk, the speed slide for the descent, and the waterfall itself last, when the afternoon light is at its best. Pack grippy shoes, quick-dry clothes, a light layer for the cool under the canopy, repellent and a waterproof phone pouch – the slide soaks everything – and aim for October to April, the island’s drier months; summer is the county’s own cooling retreat.
Practicalities
Tickets. Pricing moves with the platforms: single-entry packages with the shuttle run roughly RMB 90 to 130, online combo listings span 95 to 185 yuan, and children of 1.2 to 1.4 metres plus seniors of 60 to 70 and students ride discounted; entry itself is waived for small children, over-70s, serving military, disabled visitors and one accompanying carer each – but the shuttle fare is never discounted and is paid separately at the gate. All figures checked September 2026, subject to change; the ticket line is 0898-86361111.
Opening hours. 09:00 to 18:00 on the official Ctrip listing, last admission around 17:00, with the speed slide winding down about two hours earlier. Hours have been printed differently across platforms over the years, so treat the gate board as final.
Closing day. No published closing day – the listing marks the park open year-round. The practical closure is weather: after typhoon rain the slide and walkways can pause, so build slack into a tight itinerary.
Getting there. From Haikou or Sanya drive the central expressway G9811 to the Qiongzhong interchange, then some 15 kilometres of scenic road to the gate – about two hours from Haikou, two and a half from Sanya. From the county bus station local minibuses run toward the park, some direct to the gate, and the local bus to the Baihua Corridor Bridge connects to a moto-taxi hop for the last stretch. Yinggen town, ten minutes away, is the bed base.
flowcloud would say that Baihua Ridge is what happens when a county decides its waterfall should carry a whole tourism economy – three tiers of publicity, four of geology, five of opinion – and that the honest visit takes the fall at its own pace, from the pool at the bottom where the water finally agrees with itself.
Getting there: 百花岭 Bǎi huā lǐng stands six to seven kilometres from Yinggen, the county seat of Qiongzhong, Hainan, reached off the G9811 Qiongzhong interchange by some 15 kilometres of scenic road; tickets run around RMB 90 to 130 with the shuttle against online combo listings of 95 to 185 yuan (checked September 2026, floating), hours are 09:00 to 18:00 with last admission near 17:00, and no closing day is published; county-station minibuses and the Baihua Corridor Bridge moto-taxi hop cover the carless, and Yinggen town supplies the beds – all subject to change.