On the afternoon of August 27, around 5:20 p.m., a spectacular waterspout phenomenon, known in Chinese as “Dragon Absorbing Water,” appeared over Lianhuan Lake near Sijiazi Village, Aolin Township, Dorbod Mongol Autonomous County, Daqing, Heilongjiang Province.

The video shows a thick column of water stretching from the lake surface up into the clouds. As the videographer got closer, the lower end of the column could be seen pulling lake water upward in a spiralling motion into the sky.

An eyewitness, Ms. Zhang, joked that it looked like someone had stuck a straw into the sky. She described it as both spectacular and strange. She said she was several kilometres away at the time, with clear weather all around except for a dark cloud over the lake where the water column formed. The phenomenon lasted about four to five minutes. Ms. Zhang admitted she had never seen anything like it before and found it rather frightening.

According to the Dorbod County Meteorological Bureau, no casualties or property damage from sudden weather have been reported.