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All China Jiaxing The Silver Dragon - Qiantang River Tidal Bore

The Silver Dragon - Qiantang River Tidal Bore

A tidal bore with its own festival.

Jiaxing, China

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Matt Bergstrom
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Silver Dragon rushes past tower   Matt B
The Silver Dragon crashes on the opposite bank   Matt B
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About

The rising tide coming in from Hangzhou Bay is funneled by the shape of the Qiantang River into the world's largest tidal bore, a long breaking wave known as the Silver Dragon which sometimes reaches 30 feet high.

The tidal bore happens during the spring tide with every full moon, but is strongest in the fall, when the Tide-Watching Festival is held on the 18th day of the 8th month in the Chinese calendar. The festival can attract up to 170,000 tide-watchers and has been celebrated for hundreds of years. Indeed, observations of the regular occurrence of the Silver Dragon produced the oldest known tide table in 1056 AD to help tourists arrive in time to see the fast-moving wave.

The bore is first seen as a distant stroke of silver on the horizon. Then the rushing sound of a great waterfall can be heard growing steadily louder as it approaches at a speed up to 25 miles per hour. Some years a nearby typhoon has caused the waves to crash against the river banks violently, sucking tourists off the sea walls in its wake. After the Silver Dragon churns past, the placid river current is now replaced by choppy and turbulent ocean waves, suddenly many feet higher and completely transformed in character.

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Water Festivals

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Take the K561 bus from the outskirts of Hangzhou to the tide-watching park at Yanguan.

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MattB

Published

July 31, 2013

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Sources
  • http://coastalcare.org/2010/09/famous-qiantang-river-tidal-bore-in-china/
  • http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/zhejiang/hangzhou/qiantang.htm
  • http://www.chinahighlights.com/festivals/international-qiantang-river-tidal-bore-watching-festival.htm
The Silver Dragon - Qiantang River Tidal Bore
Wengjin Line
Jiaxing
China
30.399424, 120.54635
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