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The Yangtze River (Chinese: 扬子江; pinyin: Yángzǐ Jiāng) is the longest river in Asia and the third longest in the world after the Amazon in South America and the Nile in Africa. The Chinese name of the river is Chang Jiang (Simplified Chinese: 长江; Traditional Chinese: 長江; pinyin: Cháng Jiāng; literally "Long River"), and this name is also found on many modern maps in English.
The name Yangzi (transliterated as Yangtze) was originally used by local people to refer to the lower reaches of the river. However, because this was the name first heard by missionaries and traders, it has been applied in English to the entire river. This name is found in many forms, including Yangtse River, Yangtsze Kiang, etc. At its source the river is known in Chinese as Qudang (当曲). Downstream it is called the Tuotuo River (沱沱河) and then the Tongtian River (通天河). Where it runs through deep gorges in parallel to the Mekong and the Salween before emerging onto the plains of Sichuan it is known as the Jinsha River (金沙江 Jīnshā-jiāng or 'Golden Sands River'). The Tibetan name for the river is Vbri-chu (འབྲི་ཆུ་ 'river of the female yak'). The Yangtze is sometimes referred to as the Golden Waterway.
The river is about 6,380 km long and flows from its source in the western part of China (Qinghai Province) eastwards into the East China Sea. It has traditionally been considered a dividing point between north China and south China, although the Huai River also shares the claim.
Characteristics
Tombs on a hill facing the Yangtze as it flows by
The Yangtze flows into the East China Sea and was navigable by ocean-going vessels up to a thousand miles from its mouth even before the Three Gorges Dam was built. As of June 2003, the Three Gorges Dam now spans the river, flooding Fengjie, the first of a number of towns affected by the massive flood control and power generation project. The project is the largest comprehensive irrigation project in the world. It will free people living along the river from floods that have repeatedly threatened them in the past, and will also offer them electricity and water transport - though at the expense of permanently flooding many existing towns and causing large-scale changes in local ecology.
The river is the sole habitat of the critically endangered Chinese River Dolphin and Chinese paddlefish.
The river is a major transportation artery for China connecting the interior with the coast. River traffic includes commercial traffic transporting bulk goods such as coal as well as manufactured goods and passengers. River cruises of several days duration especially through the beautiful and scenic Three Gorges area are becoming popular as a tourism industry grows in China.
Flooding along the river has been a major problem, most recently in 1998, but more disastrously the 1954 Yangtze river floods killed around 30,000 people. Other severe floods include those of 1911 which killed around 100,000, 1931 (145,000 dead) and 1935 (142,000 dead).
Major cities along the river
Cities along the Chang Jiang, between Wuhan and Shanghai
A loading point for coal barges on the Yangtze River
Tributaries
Trivia
- Chang Jiang (Cantonese: Cheung Kong), named after this river, is also the name of the holding company controlled by Li Ka-Shing, one of Asia's richest tycoons.
- Xiangjiang is also the name of a motorcycle brand [1].
Related topics
Further reading
- Van Slyke, Lyman P. 1988. Yangtze: nature, history, and the river. A Portable Stanford Book. ISBN 0-201-08894-0
- Winchester, Simon. 1996. The River at the Center of the World:A Journey up the Yangtze & Back in Chinese Time, Holt, Henry & Company, 1996, hardcover, ISBN 0805038884; trade paperback, Owl Publishing, 1997, ISBN 0805055088; trade paperback, St. Martins, 2004, 432 pages, ISBN 0312423373
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