Special Supplement: Jilin's rime dazzles and inspires

In Jilin City, the Songhua River produces a unique natural attraction that has become legendary in some ways.

It's called rime and is particularly special in Jilin City located in Northeast China's Jilin Province. Moreover, it's regarded as one of four natural wonders in China, along with the mountains and waters in Guilin, the Stone Forest in Yunnan and the Three Gorges in the Yangtze River.

Rime is rare because it is a natural phenomenon formed in the winter. In Chinese, it's also known as Wusong or Shugua.

Rime is tiny ice particles formed when drops of water touch cold surfaces such as tree branches and leaves.

Sometimes, people in Jilin City called rime ice flower because it resembles the white and crystal-like blossoming flower. It is also called snow willow because it's usually formed on the willow branches along the Songhua River near the city.

Rime is found in several other places in the country. But rime in Jilin City is considered the most unique because the thickness reaches 40 to 60 millimeters there, compared with five to 10 millimeters in other places. The thickness makes the rime extremely crystal-clear because of its reflection of light.

The secrets behind this unique wonder are the Songhua River and a power station near the city.

In the upstream of the Songhua River, 15 km from the city, is the Fengman Hydropower Station that forms a large reservoir - the Songhua Lake.

In the winter, there are more than 60 days when the temperature plunges to minus 20 degrees celcius in Jilin City. The result is thick ice layers on the huge reservoir with a water volume of nearly 10 billion cubic meters. However, the water below the ice maintains a temperature above zero. Passing through the turbine generators of the power station, the water temperature further increases, thus the river near Jilin City never freezes in the winter.

The formation of rime occurs during two, sometimes contradictory, conditions. It needs low air temperature and abundant moisture. However, frozen water doesn't generate enough moisture.

But in Jilin City, abundant moisture rises from the unfrozen Songhua River when the ambient temperature is extremely low. The moisture condenses to the thick rime on the willow tree branches by the river.

The rime in Jilin City is poetically inspiring. It runs along the 5 km embankment of the river and it's an enjoyable attraction for tourists and a source of inspiration for poets.

In fact, former Chinese President Jiang Zemin twice visited Jilin City during the winter. He describes the natural wonder in this poem:

"In a sunny winter day,

Willow trees stand by the cold river.

Spring seems to come,

When one beholds the crystal-clear ice flower."

(China Daily 12/20/2007 page15)