Qiantang River

Disclaimer: Copyright infringement not intended.

Context

• Breath-taking patterns of giant trees appeared on the frozen Qiantang River in east China's Zhejiang Province amid a continuing cold wave.
• The rise and fall of tides result in the natural formation of forest patterns on the mud flats, also known as "tidal trees."

About Qiantang River

• This river originates on the borders of the provinces of Jiangxi and Anhui in southeast China.
• It travels 459 kilometres through Zhejiang, passing through Yanguan Town, Haining, Jiaxing City, and the capital city of Hangzhou before emptying into Hangzhou Bay and the East China Sea.
• Additionally, the river serves as the southern end of the historic Grand Canal, which connects China's five principal rivers north to south.
• This allows transportation from Hangzhou to travel north to Beijing via the Canal.
• It is surrounded by a collection of rapidly developing cities, such as Ningbo, one of China's top port cities, and Shanghai, the nation's preeminent industrial and commercial centre.
• One of the biggest tidal bores in the world is the breath-taking Qiantang River Tidal Bore.
• The highest tidal bore can reach up to 9 metres (30 feet) high.

What is Tidal Bore?

• Where a river pours into the ocean or sea along the shore is known as a tidal bore.
• A powerful tide that pushes up the river against the current is called a tidal bore.
• A surge is a tidal bore.
• A abrupt shift in depth is called a surge.
• A channel feels a pleasant surge when it abruptly descends further.
• A channel experiences a negative surge when it suddenly becomes shallower.
• Positive surges are tidal bores.
• The bore height is higher close to a river's banks than it is in the middle of the stream.
• After high water, some bores continue to flow upstream for around 30 minutes due to momentum.
• Bores happen during spring tides and on a few tides before and after spring tides, but they never happen during neap tides.