Yangtze River is the longest river in China, also known as the Mother River of Chinese Nation. It originates at the southwest side of Geladandong Peak of Tanggula Mountain, Tibetan Plateau, China. Flowing down eastwards through the long and winding passage of Tibet, Qinghai, Yunnan, Sichuan, Chongqing, Hubei (passes through Wuhan), Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui, Jiangsu (Nanjing), and finally Shanghai into the East China Sea; 6,300 kilometers, with its valley area takes up of over 1,800,000 square kilometers, one fifth of China’s total land area.  

However, where the origin of the Yangtze River is, is quite controversial. There are two views held by some modern geographical experts. Yangtze River and Yellow River are originated from the same high mountain, that is, Bayan Har Shan (巴颜喀拉山) in Qinghai Province of western China; and Yangtze River from the southern foot of the mountain and Yellow River from the northern foot. Another saying is that Tibet’s Hohxil Mountain (可可西里山) is the origin of Yangtze River; and it is being divided into two branches of river – Muluwusu River (木鲁乌苏河) at the south and Chumaer River (楚玛尔河) at the north. Organized geographical investigation activities were engaged in summers of 1976 and 1978 by a team of scientists going to highlands, where regarded as the origins of rivers. The scientists found that the Yangtze River started from the area located between Kunlun and Tanggula Mountains, where they saw many rivers. The bigger rivers here are Chumaer, Tuotuo (沱沱河) and Dangqu (当曲河), of which Dangqu River is the biggest in the area with high flowing scale. However, by adopting the principle of “the origin of rivers is very far away”, they determined the origin of Yangtze River is in Tuotuo River, with Dangqu River and Chumaer River as southern and northern branch origin rivers respectively. 

The area is a highland that very cold and the air is quite thin. Over 40 peaks of more than 6,000 meters above sea level are seen. Annual precipitation is 200 to 400 millimeters of which mostly snowfall. The warmest month July, the daily average temperature is below 0 degree Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit), only above freezing point when the high sun radiation shines at noon. The melting snow and ice in glaciers on the plateau make many tiny streams, which are the first flows of Yangtze River. 

Yangtze River has passed through many of the different kinds of geology, tectonic settings, and of course different elevations and climate zones. It absorbed many small rivers and tiny streams on its passage. It can be divided into three categories according to different water and topological conditions – upper, middle and lower reaches. 

The upper reaches of Yangtze River are length 4,529 kilometers that takes up 72 percent of the river’s total length. The starting point is at the heart of the Tibetan Plateau, where the 4,000-meter-odd high altitude the river is shallow and wide. The width is 300 to 1,700 meters. Long, twisting and flowing very slowly with many small branch streams by the side of it. The section from Batang River to Yibin city in Sichuan Province is locally called Jinsha Jiang (River of Golden Sand) is another stage of changing topography. It is changing tremendously that the mountains are very high but the valleys are so deep. The river is flowing rapidly through the valleys. In Shigu (Stone Drum) in Yunnan Province, southwest China, Yangtze River is suddenly turns to northeast direction. The famous Hutiao (Jumping Tiger) Gorge is 35 kilometers away. The gorge is 16 kilometers long but the narrowest section is just 30 meters wide. After the Hutiao Gorge, the river will go into Yunnan-Guizhou Highlands and then to Sichuan Province. Traditionally Yangtze River (in Chinese: Changjiang, the Long River, literally) is the name used for the section at east of Yibin city. However, in Sichuan, Yibin to Yichang section is called Chuanjiang River (Sichuan River), 1,030 kilometers long. In the province, the riverbed is plain and the water is peaceful, because this is the Sichuan Basin. Going downward, the river will be wide and the water is flowing fast again. The upper reaches of Yangtze River ends in the Three Gorges Area. 

The 927-kilometer-long middle reaches start from Yichang, the Three Gorges. It is a plain area, too, the river is wide and the water is moving quite slowly. A certain part of it, which flows through Jingzhou (荆州) city near Wuhan, is called Jingjiang River (荆江). The water resources are so rich in the area that there are a lot of lakes along the valleys on two banks. The waters in lake and Yangtze River exchange one another. The giant water systems in Dongting Lake and Poyang Lake are linking to the great river, therefore the volume of discharge doubled.

Jingjiang River Dam, Yangtze River

The lower reaches are in eastern China, length of 844 kilometers. Yangtze River (扬子江, pronounced as Yang Zi Jiang), traditionally has been the name for the section in the cities of Yangzhou and Zhenjiang (where Yangtze is intersecting with Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal) in Jiangsu Province. It got the name because Yangzi Jin and Yangzi County, so westerners have been calling it the whole river “Yangtze” (the old spelling of Yangzi). The flowing volume in Jiangsu eastern area can reach 266,000 cubic meters per second, almost nine times the average rate in the rest of the river. However, in the Yangtze River Estuary, seawater will sometimes flow backward to the river mouth due to tidal waves of the East China Sea. This motion brings large amount of mud and sand to the riverbed. As time goes by, it forms many shoals or islands, of which the largest one is Chongming Island (崇明岛) in Shanghai.

 

 

Water is deep in the lower reaches and some part of the middle reaches, where large cruise vessels can sail through. Most part of Yangtze River is ice free, with the exception in high grounds on plateau, where without warm summer. Yangtze River provides adequate water source to irrigate the Chinese soil in the valley, feeding millions of Chinese people and giving abundant water energy.