Recently, the North River Water Sports and Entertainment Center in Qingyuan, Guangdong, which cost 30 million RMB to build, opened for only three days before being hit by a heavy rainstorm that washed away some of its water facilities, leading to its temporary closure.
On August 5th, heavy to very heavy rains hit the southern part of Qingyuan, the northern part of Zhaoqing, the northern part of Guangzhou, and Foshan in Guangdong. Large rainfall occurred in counties on both sides of the Pearl River estuary and in Shanwei, with Qingxin District in Qingyuan’s Taiping Town recording the highest rainfall in the province at 240.7 millimeters.
Numerous netizens shared videos showing that some facilities of the newly built “North River Water Sports and Entertainment Center” in Qingyuan, Guangdong, were washed away during the heavy rain.
According to the official website of the Guangdong provincial government, the water sports and entertainment center officially started operation on August 2nd. The first phase of the project, including both land and water areas, covers a total area of 19.72 hectares with an investment of about 30 million RMB. It is the largest inland river bank water sports and entertainment center in Guangdong. The initial open areas include a “Water Adventure Challenge Zone” covering 5,000 square meters and a “Water Children’s Castle” spanning 3,500 square meters.
On August 7th, Red Star News reported that according to the North River Water Sports and Entertainment Center, the two projects washed away during the storm were the Water Adventure Challenge and the Water Paradise. Pre-strengthening and anti-flood works are still undergoing additional processing, which led to the inability to withstand the flood when it arrived. Before opening, the center had conducted safety inspections, but they did not anticipate such heavy rainfall.
The staff mentioned that at present, the water activity center has temporarily closed, and efforts are underway to retrieve the washed-away water facilities. Moving forward, the center will implement more detailed reinforcement measures before determining the reopening date.