Strong tides are seen during the fifth-round sand-washing operation to clear up the sediment-laden Yellow River at the section of the Xiaolangdi Reservoir in Luoyang, Henan Province June 15, 2006.

This round of operation is estimated to take more than 20 days with a maximum discharged water flow of 3500 cubic meters per second. Over 300 million tons of sand from the lower Yellow River have been flushed into the sea during the previous four sand-washing operations.

(Xinhua News Agency June 16, 2006)