The narrowest river in the world is only a few centimeters wide

The Hualai River in China, is more than 17km long but has an average width of only 15cm. Its narrowest place is only 4cm wide.

The Hualai River in China , considered the world's narrowest river , measures only a few tens of centimeters at its widest point.

At its widest point, the Amazon is more than 6 miles wide in the dry season and 24km wide in the rainy season. It is by far the widest river in the world, although there are many others that are at least a mile wide at their widest point, width is not the defining characteristic of a river.

In fact, there is a river in China that is so narrow that you can easily walk across it. The Hualai River, on the Inner Mongolian Plateau in northern China, is more than 17km long but has an average width of only 15cm. Its narrowest place is only 4cm wide.

The narrowest part of the Hualai River is only 4cm wide.

It is hard to believe that a river like Hualai actually exists, but according to Chinese experts, it has been flowing through Gongger grassland for at least 10,000 years.

Apparently, it originates from an underground spring and flows into the Dalai Nur lake in the Hexigten Grasslands nature reserve.

While some would say that Hualai is too narrow to even be considered a river, the fact is that size is not a distinguishing factor between rivers, streams, and creeks.

Hualai is a permanent body of water that flows steadily all year round and it has all the constitutive elements of a river, such as a well-defined basin, flooded grasslands, etc.

Hualai is also known as the "Book Bridge River" , because of a folk tale involving a boy who tripped while trying to cross the river, dropping his book right on one of Hualai's narrowest places.

The book became a useful bridge for ants trying to get to the other side, and the name Book Bridge River got stuck.

Although the Hualai River is not particularly wide, it has a depth of up to 50cm.