The Qiantang River tides in Yanguan, Jiaxing attract 168,000 tourists from around China on Oct 4. [Photo/WeChat account: cnjxrb]

A total of 168,000 tourists from around China watched the Qiantang River tides in Yanguan, Haining county, Jiaxing, East China's Zhejiang province on Oct 4, local media reported.

The tides this year were the largest seen in the past three years, with an average height of 1.7 meters, while the "soaring tide" reached a height of 15 meters.

At 12:38, a white line approached from afar accompanied by a loud roar.

The tidal bore in the Qiantang, also known as the Haining tidal bore, which sees large waves created by the gravitational pull of the moon and the sun and the centrifugal force produced by the rotation of the earth, and by the peculiar "trumpet-shaped" mouth of Hangzhou Bay, is believed to be one of the three biggest tides in the world and has been consistently popular throughout the generations.

There are four popular ways to enjoy the Qiantang River tides in Haining – watching the crossing tide from Dingqiao Bridge, watching the line-shaped tide from Tidal Bore Watching Park, watching the "turn back" tide from Laoyancang, or simply listening to the tide at night.