it swallows the breakwater
because here comes the bore
on the dyke the sun burns merciless
others sell drinks or dumplings
fresh bamboo shoots!!
start your engines
time to go home
and suddenly it is high tide on the river
the breakwater is now completely submerged
soon the police will clear this area
A
tidal bore is formed when the incoming tide is funneled in an narrow and shallow inlet like a bay or river delta.
The
world's highest tidal bore occurs in the mouth of the
Qiantang River near Hangzhou and can reach heights of well over 9 meters.
Every
year around the 18th day of the 8th month of the
Chinese lunar year hundreds of thousands spectators flock to the dykes of
Haining county to see and hear this spectacular phenomenon.
People have been watching the bore for at least 2000 years and it became
very popular in the
Tang dynasty.
The oldest timetables of the event date from the 11th century.
On a sunny
day in September 2003 we joined the crowd along the Qiantang and watched the bore come and go.
NB: I shot the pictures with an
early Casio digital camera that unfortunately shows major vignetting and colorshift..
we arrive early but are not the first
it is a slow walk back
a police car makes sure nobody comes near
