The world's narrowest river

山西 赵海峰

The Haolai River,in China,is apparently the narrowest river in the world,measuring only a few dozen centimeters at its widest point.The Haolai River,on the Inner Mongolia Plateau in north China,is over 17-kilometer-long but has an average width of just 15 centimeters.At its narrowest place,it is just 4-centimeter-wide.

It's hard to believe that a river like Haolai actually exists,but according to Chinese experts,it has been flowing through the Gongger Grassland for at least 10,000 years.Apparently,it stems from an underground spring and flows into the Dalai Nur Lake in the Hexigten Grassland nature reserve.

Although some would say that Haolai is too narrow to even be considered a river,the fact is that size is not a distinguishing factor between rivers,streams and creeks.Haolai is a permanent body of water,flowing steadily throughout the year,and it has all the disguising elements of a river,such as a clearly defined basin,flood-meadow (洪水草甸),etc.

Haolai is also known as the“Book Bridge River”,because of a folk story involving a boy who tripped while trying to cross the river,dropping his book right over one of the narrowest parts of Haolai.The book became a useful bridge for ants that were trying to make it to the other side,and the name Book Bridge River got stuck.

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Why does Haolai consider to be a river according to the text?