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The Blue Dragon River in Portugal

Wondrous Crossings: The Blue Dragon River in Portugal

Inspire

The “Blue Dragon River” was nicknamed thus after it was photographed from above by this man.

Little is known of the history of this awe-striking river. The people that leave near its shores never considered it to be uncommon until photographer Steve Richards, saw it from above and revealed its fantastic form in a photograph.

The mythological shape of the Odeleite, located in the Caestro Marim municipality in Portugal, has astounded both the Portuguese and Web users since Richards published this image on Flickr. Its outline is exactly like a blue Chinese dragon. A long, scaly, meandering blue dragon.

The Blue Dragon River in Portugal

The improbability of the form and beauty of the photograph led thousands of viewers to actually question it, believing the photographer had edited it somehow. Referring to this, Richards noted:

For the record, it is a photograph, of a real place, that I took on our flight from Cardiff to Faro. The blue colour is from the water reflecting the sky and the white flecks are of course the clouds. The striking colours are thanks to running the original picture through Topaz Adjust 4.

In Chinese mythology, the dragon is the symbol of yang, and the phoenix is ying. It is undoubtedly fascinating to see how the archetypes of the world are represented on Earth, and how they can be absolutely anywhere, waiting for someone to discover them.

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