Hangzhou Bay (China)

Hangzhou Bay is a funnel-shaped inlet of the East China Sea on the middle eastern coast of Mainland China, bordered by the province of Zhejiang to the west and south, and the municipality of Shanghai to north. The bay extends westwards to its head at the city of Hangzhou, the provincial capital of Zhejiang, from which its name is derived. The east and southeast margin of Hangzhou Bay are marked by numerous islands off the shores of Ningbo, collectively called the Zhoushan Islands, which are an urbanized archipelago that forms the prefecture-level city of Zhoushan. At Hangzhou, the Qiantang River flows into the bay, providing fresh water from the west, while seawater comes in from the east. Thus, Hangzhou Bay, especially its western end, is sometimes called the Qiantang River Estuary in the scientific literature. At less than 15 metres (49 ft) in depth, the Hangzhou Bay is relatively shallow. Consequently, the main port in the bay area is the Port of Ningbo-Zhoushan, the busiest port in the world by cargo tonnage, at the southeast end of the bay striding between Ningbo and Zhoushan. The busiest container port in the world, the offshore Yangshan Port administered by the Port of Shanghai, is built on reclaimed land joining several small islands in a northwestern group of the Zhoushan Islands, which is connected to the mainland via the 32.5 km-long (20.2 mi) Donghai Bridge.