Hundreds of thousands of tide viewers have been thrilled by the magnificent Qiantang River tidal bore in east China's Zhejiang Province, as the unique natural phenomenon ushers in its best viewing day on Friday.
A tidal bore is a phenomenon where the leading edge of an incoming tide creates a wave that surges up a river against the flow. It is caused by the tide-generating force, which is the result of the combination of the gravitational attraction between the Earth, the moon and the sun.
The centrifugal force produced by the rotation of the Earth and the trumpet shape of the Hangzhou Bay in Zhejiang makes it easy for the tide to come in, but difficult to ebb, thus giving rise to the largest tidal bore, which is called the "Silver Dragon" by locals.
The best time to witness the Qiantang River tides is during the eighth month of the traditional Chinese calendar, with the most dramatic display typically occurring on the 18th day of the month, which falls on Friday this year.
The bore traveled 55 kilometers from the mouth of the Qiantang River to Daquekou in Haining City, one of the best observation points along the river. The waves surged as high as 1.7 meters on Friday afternoon due to the impact of Typhoon Pulasan, which made a second landfall in Shanghai on Thursday evening after its first landfall earlier the same day in Zhejiang.
The strong tidal current on Qiantang River is expected to further rise to 1.8 meters. Local authorities have deployed personnel to patrol along the riverbank round the clock to ensure the safety of the viewing crowd.
Meanwhile, more than 29,000 visitors have flocked to Haining's Yanguan Tourist Resort after the famous viewing point was reopened to public after being temporarily closed due to typhoon.
Affected by the storm tide brought by Pulasan and the previous typhoon Bebinca, the speed of the rushing torrents arriving this spot reached more than 10 meters per second. Further along the river, the Meinyu Dam in Xiaoshan City is another popular viewing site where different types of tidal bore can be observed, including one-line tides, back-flow tides, and "sky-high" tides.
The roaring bore hit the 350-meter-long L-shaped dam and then split into two parts, with some tides hurdling through the six-meter-high structure, while the other part of the blocked tides returned and splashed against the seawall, creating great waves up to 15 meters high, which is dubbed "sky-high" tides.
The tide that crossed over the dam rushed toward a U-shaped structure two kilometers upstream at six to eight meters per second. Slamming into the structure, the torrents created another round of undertows.
Spectacular tidal bore on Qiantang River wows viewers
A 25 percent import tariff on all foreign-built vehicles entering the United States has raised serious concerns for manufacturers in South Africa.
Automotive giants like Mercedes and BMW have long used South Africa as a base for global exports -- but those plans may be shifting into reverse gear after the U.S. announced the punitive measures.
"If you take, for example, BMW, 97 percent of the X3 that we are producing in Rosslyn is exported out of the country. We only sell 3 percent in South Africa, and there's a huge number of those vehicles that also go into the U.S. So there are companies in South Africa that are purely here not because they are selling vehicles in South Africa; they are here to produce vehicles for the global market, and it's important for them to remain globally competitive," said Mike Mabasa, CEO of the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa.
U.S. automaker Ford, which has deep roots in South Africa, is also in the crosshairs.
The company recently invested over 300 million U.S. dollars to upgrade its Silverton plant in Pretoria, South Africa, for the production of the world's only plug-in hybrid Ranger, which has just entered production but could face delays or restrictions.
"If an American citizen wants to buy specifically a Ford Ranger that is a plug-in hybrid, they can only place an order in South Africa, nowhere else in the world. So, that means, obviously, the capacity of Ford to be able to produce those vehicles in big volumes is going to be constrained, because Americans are going be looking at another Ford that is produced in another country, or even in the United States," said Mabasa.
South Africa has long enjoyed duty-free automotive exports to the U.S. under the African Growth and Opportunity Act, but that relationship now hangs in the balance.
A sharp shift in U.S. foreign policy threatens to derail an industry that employs thousands and contributes around 5 percent to the country's economy.
"We produce less than 1 percent of global automotive vehicles, so to say. So, in reality, the impact on us is likely to be more disproportionate than those of our peers that produce at the same level. And the risk is actually created -- a concentration risk -- in countries that have greater capacity and are building more; in those countries will be able to absorb some of this," said Parks Tau, South Africa's minister of trade and industry.
Amid growing concerns about overreliance on the U.S. market, Amith Singh, national manager for manufacturing at Nedbank Commercial Bank, emphasized the importance of tapping into regional trade opportunities.
"I think we need to make better use of some of our local agreements, our African continental agreements. How do we leverage that? How do we partner with the government and private sector to start benefiting the countries and the economies aside from the United States? So, those could be the catalyst to drive our localization projects; it could be what we need to drive the African economy as opposed to being completely reliant on the States (United States)," he said.
South Africa is for now standing firm in its decision not to retaliate against steep U.S. import tariffs, set to take effect in just a few days.
Officials in Pretoria acknowledge the challenges posed by the current U.S. administration but are pursuing a diplomatic approach in hopes of maintaining stable relations and preserving the African Growth and Opportunity Act.
US tariffs rock South Africa’s auto industry
