Located 82 kilometers from Hangzhou, the Nanbei Lake Scenic Area in Haiyan County is home to the perplexing phenomenon of the "sun and moon rising together" that has puzzled people for centuries. This phenomenon has long been passed down among the local community and is also documented in ancient texts from the Ming Dynasty. It wasn't until 1980 that Mr. Feng Tiening from Zhejiang University rediscovered this phenomenon in historical records, allowing the miraculous sight to be witnessed once again. On the first day of the tenth lunar month that same year, Feng Tiening and Mr. Xie Binggong from Wulin Middle School were fortunate enough to witness this rare celestial event. Since then, every year on the first day of the tenth lunar month, thousands of visitors come to experience the wonder of the sun and moon rising together.
The phenomenon is truly unique, as the sun and moon rise simultaneously in the morning, creating a variety of unpredictable visuals. Sometimes, they merge into one as they slowly rise from the surface of the lake. More often, the sun and moon overlap, with the sun appearing slightly larger while the moon dances beside it, sometimes to the left, sometimes to the right, and at times above or below. When the moon passes in front of the sun, it casts a shadow, causing the sun's surface to dim. Occasionally, the moon appears first, almost in line with the sun, which then rises, cradling the moon's shadow as they both move together, with the moon's shadow bouncing around the sun until it disappears.
Observations from 1980 to 1985 indicate that the sun and moon rising together lasts anywhere from a minimum of 5 minutes to a maximum of 31 minutes, with an average duration of about 15 minutes each time. Each occurrence presents a different spectacle, and to this day, there is no scientific explanation for it.
