At its widest point, the Amazon River is more than 6 miles wide during the dry season and 24 miles wide during the wet season. So far, this is considered the widest river in the world. As with many other rivers in the world, most are at least a mile wide at their widest point.
In practice, however, width is not the characteristic that defines (or classifies) a river.
In China, there is a river so narrow that you can easily walk across it. That is the Hualai River, located in the Inner Mongolian Plateau in northern China. Although it is about 17 km long, the average width of the Hualai River is only about 15cm (?!). Especially, in the narrowest sections, this river is only about 4cm wide!
It is hard to believe that a river like the Hualai actually exists, but according to Chinese experts, it has been flowing through the Gongger grasslands in Inner Mongolia for at least 10,000 years. It is known that 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 fixed water stream that flows steadily all year round and it has all the characteristic elements of a river, such as a well-defined basin, flooded grasslands and so on.
Quite interestingly, the Hualai River is also known by the locals as the 'River Of The Book Brigde', because of a folk tale about a boy who tripped while trying to cross the river, accidentally dropping his book right on one of the narrowest parts of Hualai. The book became a useful bridge for ants trying to get to the other side, and the name 'River Bridges of Books' persisted.
Notably, although the Hualai River is not particularly wide, it has a depth of up to 50 cm.
