An aerial drone photo taken in Jixian County, north China"s Shanxi Province, on Oct. 28, 2026, shows a rainbow over the Yellow River"s Hukou Waterfall. (Photo by Lyu Guiming/Xinhua)

　　ZHENGZHOU, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- The Hukou Waterfall on the Yellow River, once depicted on China"s fourth-series 50-yuan banknotes as a torrent of muddy, turbulent water, now presents a markedly different scene, with its cascading waters running clear.

　　Photographer Lyu Guiming, known for documenting the waterfall in Jixian County, Shanxi Province, since 1999, has witnessed the change.

　　"Over the past decade, clear cascades at the waterfall have been my main photographic subject," Lyu said. "The contrast with the old scenes is striking."

　　The changing waterscape reflects decades of efforts to protect and manage the Yellow River, China"s second-longest river, which flows 5,464 km from its source in the highlands of Qinghai Province through nine provinces and autonomous regions, crossing deserts and loess lands before emptying into the Bohai Sea in Shandong Province, east China.

　　In 1946, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, an agency for people"s Yellow River management was established on the river"s banks in Heze, Shandong Province.

　　Because Henan Province was frequently affected by flooding on the river, the Yellow River Conservancy Commission (YRCC) later moved its headquarters to Zhengzhou in December 1953.

　　Thanks to 80 years of conservation efforts, the river, once prone to devastating floods, heavy sedimentation and shifting channels, now has cleaner waters and more sustainable water use.