Recently, the Qiantang River witnessed a phenomenon known as the “moon tide,” where a crescent-shaped tidal wave with a diameter of up to 300 meters spanned across the river, dividing it into two halves and attracting widespread attention.
A mainland China blogger named “Dong World” posted a video on October 7, stating that during the Mid-Autumn Festival, a time of family reunion, a “moon tide” unexpectedly appeared on the Qiantang River.
The video footage shows turbulent waves on the river, with white frothy crests rolling and stretching, outlining the shape of a crescent moon. It resembles a giant jade plate slowly advancing into the river waters, a spectacle made even more magnificent by the overlapping of the annual high tide cycle.
The Qiantang River tidal bore is one of the world’s three greatest tidal bores, with the best viewing period occurring on the 18th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, known as the “August 18 Tide,” which has been a celebrated tradition for centuries.
According to Mu Jinbin, Chairman of the Qiantang River Tidal Bore Research Association in Zhejiang Province, at the end of the seventh month of the lunar calendar this year, a spectacular sight of five types of tidal patterns simultaneously appeared in the Xin Cang section of the Qiantang River. These included rectangular tidal patterns, fish scale tides, intersecting tides, ripple tides, and linear tides.
Moreover, some netizens recently captured the phenomenon of four types of tides merging twice. These combinations included collision tides, intersecting tides, double intersecting tides, fish scale tides, and collision tides, intersecting tides, fish scale tides, and ripple tides.
Netizens expressed awe, with comments like, “The perfect alignment of the moon tide and the Mid-Autumn Festival is truly a magical wonder of nature.” “There must be a painting god in the Qiantang River.” “This tide is so precious, it’s as if it’s encrusted with gold.”
Others described the tidal movements vividly, “The tide comes like a galloping army trampling the river surface into pieces, while the ebb tide retreats like a thousand heaps of broken jade returning to the vast expanse. The linear tide sharply cuts through the blue waves, the turning tide stirs up thunderous waves hitting the shore, and the night tide brings the surging grandeur of starlight and moonlight. Every aspect of the Qiantang River tidal bore is a grand epic written by nature with power and poetry.” “Nature’s masterpiece.” “Words fail to capture its essence.”