Overview of the Yangtze River

The largest river in China. It originates from the southwest side of the main peak of the Tanggula Mountains on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (33°28'N, 91°08'E), and the source glacier is more than 5,400 meters above sea level. The main stream flows through 10 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, including Qinghai, Tibet, Sichuan, Yunnan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui, Jiangsu and Shanghai, and flows into the East China Sea east of Chongming Island. The tributaries also flow through eight provinces and autonomous regions, including Gansu, Shaanxi, Guizhou, Henan, Zhejiang, Guangxi, Fujian and Guangdong. The main stream is more than 6,300 kilometers long, ranking third in the world. The basin covers an area of more than 1.8 million square kilometers. Most of the basin is in the subtropical monsoon climate zone, warm and humid, with an average annual precipitation of 1100 mm, and an average annual inflow of nearly 1 trillion cubic meters, accounting for about 36% of the total river runoff in China, ranking third in the world in terms of water volume, second only to the Flaxon River and the Congo River, and equivalent to 20 times the water volume of the Yellow River (see the World River Water Volume Comparison Table).

The Yangtze River has developed a water system, with thousands of tributaries, 49 tributaries with a basin area of more than 10,000 square kilometers, and four major tributaries of the Jialing River, Hanjiang River, Minjiang River and Yalong River with a basin area of more than 100,000 square kilometers. The middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River are the areas with the highest concentration of freshwater lakes in China, mainly including Poyang Lake, Dongting Lake, Dahu Lake and Chaohu Lake.

The main stream of the Yangtze River is about 4,500 kilometers long from the source of the river to Yichang in Hubei Province, with a basin area of 1 million square kilometers. The river passes through plateaus, mountainous areas and basins, and the Jinsha River and the Three Gorges River are many high mountains and deep gorges, and the water flow is turbulent. The climate belongs to the Qinghai-Tibet alpine region and the subtropical monsoon region. The main tributaries are the Yalong River, the Min River, the Jialing River, the Wujiang River, etc.

Yichang to Jiangxi Province Hukou is the middle reach, 938 kilometers long, the basin area is 680,000 square kilometers, of which the section of Zhicheng to Chengling Alum River is commonly known as Jingjiang, Jingjiang River channel is graceful and meandering, and it is also called "Jiuqu Ileum". The main tributaries are Qingjiang River, Dongting "Four Waters" (Xiang, Zi, Yuan, Li), Hanjiang River, Poyang "Five Waters" (Gan, Fu, Xin, Rao, Xiu) and so on.

It is 835 kilometers long and has a basin area of 130,000 square kilometers. The following Datong in Anhui Province is affected by the tide, and the water potential is moderate. Jiangyin to the Yangtze River estuary in Jiangsu Province is the estuary section, and the width of the river extends from more than 1,200 meters to 91 kilometers, which is trumpet-shaped. The main tributaries are Qingge River, Shuiyang River, Chu River, Qinhuai River, Huangpu River, etc. Most of the water in the Huai River also flows into the Yangtze River through the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal.

The plains and hills on both sides of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River are at low altitudes, the cold and warm air moves from north to south are unhindered, the East Asian monsoon activity is very obvious, and the climate has four distinct seasons. The characteristics of the river channel are sometimes bundled and released, resembling lotus roots, and the open river section has many heart beach outcrops, and the river channel is divided. There are more than 3,100 kilometers of dry embankments on both sides of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Tens of thousands of kilometers of embankments and sea ponds have been built, and 40 large and small flood storage areas have been built to mitigate the threat of flooding. By the end of 1992, 45,000 large, medium and small reservoirs had been built, with a total storage capacity of nearly 140 billion cubic meters, playing a comprehensive role in flood control, power generation, irrigation, breeding and other comprehensive benefits.

The irrigated area of the Yangtze River basin is 14.67 million hectares, accounting for 63.3% of the cultivated land and 30% of the country's irrigated area. The Yangtze River basin is extremely rich in hydropower resources, with a developable capacity of 197 million kilowatts and an annual power generation capacity of 1 trillion kilowatt hours, second only to Brazil in the world. The Gezhouba Water Conservancy Project has an installed capacity of 2.715 million kilowatts, and the Three Gorges Water Conservancy Hub under construction will have an installed capacity of 18.2 million kilowatts, ranking first in the world. The Yangtze River basin is an important economically developed region in China. At the end of 1992, it had a population of 398 million (34 percent of the country), 348 million mu of cultivated land (24 percent of the country), 155 million tons of grain (35 percent of the country), 70 percent of the country's rice output, more than one-third of the country's cotton output, and 32 percent of the country's agricultural output value. Chengdu Plain, Jianghan Plain, Dongting Lake District, Poyang Lake District and Taihu Lake Area are important commercial grain bases in China.

There are 185 cities in the Yangtze River Basin, and large cities with a non-agricultural population of more than 1 million include Shanghai, Nanjing, Wuhan, Chongqing, Chengdu, Kunming, Changsha, Hangzhou, Nanchang and Guiyang. The Yangtze River Industrial Belt, with Shanghai Pudong as the "leader", is gradually taking shape. In 1992, the industrial output value accounted for 34.5 percent of the country's total, and the steel, machinery, nonferrous metals, petrochemical, electronics, textile and other industries all occupied an important position in the country.

There are more than 3,600 navigable rivers in the Yangtze River system, with a total navigable mileage of more than 57,000 kilometers, accounting for 52.6% of the total navigable length of inland rivers in the country, including 3,042 kilometers of waterways above 1,000 tons. More than 2,900 kilometers below the new town of Yibin can be navigated by ships all year round. Chongqing can pass 1,500-ton ships below; 3,000-ton ships can pass below Yichang; 5,000-ton ships can pass below Hankou; The following Nanjing can pass 10,000-ton sea vessels.

(From the website: http://changjiang.whlib./hscj/cjgk.htm)

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A drop of water at the source of the Yangtze River

The Yangtze River is more than 6,300 kilometers long, second only to the Amazon River in South America and the Nile River in Africa. The source of the Yangtze River is located in the heart of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The terrain here is high, the air is thin, the climate is harsh, the traffic is dangerous, and the people are inaccessible. The headwaters are covered by snow-capped glaciers, marshes, steaming springs and the highest altitudes on earth, with lakes in between. The source area of the Yangtze River is composed of the Zhengyuan Tuotuo River, the south source Dangqu, and the north source Chumaer River. The Tongtian River flows through the territory of Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Qinghai Province, and the river channel is relatively straight and abundant. The Tongtian River enters the mountains and valleys at the junction of the Tibet Autonomous Region and Sichuan Province after receiving the Batang River in Yushu, and is called the Jinsha River. The Jinsha River flows through the famous Hengduan Mountain Range region. The terrain gradually inclines from the northwest to the northeast, the mountains are endless, the canyon between the mountains is in the shape of "V", the depth is up to two or three thousand meters, the river water is like ten thousand horses galloping, passing through the deep canyon. The Nu River and the Lancang River, which are adjacent to the Jinsha River, are only more than 70 kilometers away from each other, and the three rivers flow parallel to the south. The Jinsha River crosses the northern side of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and flows to Yibin City, Sichuan Province. When it joins the Minjiang River flowing from the north in Yibin, it is called the Yangtze River.

The Yangtze River runs from Yibin, Sichuan to Yichang, Hubei, commonly known as the Sichuan River, and above Yichang is the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. Jingjiang River is the common name of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River from Zhicheng in Hubei Province to Chenglingji in Hunan Province. The Yangtze River crosses Wuhan, passes through Huangshi, goes down to Jiujiang, and ends its midstream journey at the mouth of Poyang Lake in Jiangxi Province, and then enters the last section of the river - downstream.

The annual inflow of the Yangtze River into the sea is nearly 1 trillion cubic meters, which is about 20 times that of the Yellow River and accounts for more than one-third of the total annual inflow of all rivers in China. It is second only to the Amazon River in South America and the Congo River (Zaire River) in Africa. The main stream of the Yangtze River flows through 11 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, including Qinghai, Tibet, Yunnan, Sichuan, Chongqing, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui, Jiangsu and Shanghai, from west to east, across the belly of China. Its tributaries extend from north to south, and are also distributed to parts of eight provinces and autonomous regions, including Gansu, Shaanxi, Henan, Guizhou, Guangxi, Guangdong, Fujian, and Zhejiang. The basin covers an area of 1.8 million square kilometers, which is two and a half times the size of the Yellow River basin and accounts for about one-fifth of China's total area. It forms a vast water system between the Yellow River, the Huai River, and the Pearl River. The total drop between the source of the Yangtze River and the mouth of the sea is more than 5,800 meters, and the abundant water volume combined with the huge drop has brought the Yangtze River's water energy reserves to 268 million kilowatts, accounting for 40 percent of China's water energy reserves.

The waters of the Yangtze River are vast, with an existing water surface area of about 130 million mu, nearly half of China's total freshwater area.

The Yangtze River basin is also rich in forest resources, accounting for one-third of the country.

In every sense of the word, China's Yangtze River is the world's greatest river.

(Excerpt from the webpage: http://tech.. cn/system/2001/10/25/000174257.shtml)

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Photo of the source of the Yangtze River: http:///kply/cj/y3.htm