The Hualai River in China is considered the narrowest river in the world, measuring only a few dozen centimeters at its widest point.
At its widest, the Amazon River spans over 6 miles during the dry season and 24 kilometers during the rainy season. To date, it holds the title of the widest river in the world, despite many other rivers being at least a mile wide at their widest points. However, width is not the defining characteristic of a river.
In fact, there is a river in China so narrow that you could easily step across it. The Hualai River, located in the Inner Mongolia Plateau in northern China, stretches over 17 kilometers but has an average width of just 15 centimeters. Its narrowest point measures only 4 centimeters.
The narrowest point of the Hualai River measures only 4 cm.
It is hard to believe that a river like the Hualai actually exists, but according to Chinese experts, it has flowed through the Gongger grasslands for at least 10,000 years.
Clearly, it originates from an underground spring and flows into Dalai Nur Lake within the Hexigten Grasslands Nature Reserve.
Although some might argue that the Hualai is too narrow to even be considered a river, the fact remains that size is not a distinguishing factor between rivers, streams, and brooks.
The Hualai is a permanent body of water, flowing steadily year-round, and it possesses all the essential characteristics of a river, such as a clearly defined watershed and floodplains.
The Hualai is also known as the “Book Bridge River”, due to a folk tale involving a boy who stumbled while trying to cross the river, dropping his book right at one of the Hualai’s narrowest points.
The book became a useful bridge for ants trying to cross to the other side, and the name Book Bridge River stuck.
Although the Hualai River is not particularly wide, it can reach depths of up to 50 centimeters.
