Yangtze

The Yangtze River, also known as the Yangzi River or Chang Jiang, is the longest river in China and the third-longest river in the world. It begins at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows for over 6,000 kilometers toward the East China Sea. The river is very important for China, supporting many people and activities.

Throughout history, the Yangtze has been essential for China's culture and economy. It has provided water for crops, helped with transportation, and even been used in wars. Today, areas near the Yangtze Delta produce a large part of China's GDP, and the Three Gorges Dam on the river is the largest hydro-electric power station in the world.

The Yangtze River is home to many unique animals, such as the Chinese alligator and the narrow-ridged finless porpoise. However, some species like the Yangtze river dolphin have disappeared. The river also faces problems like pollution and flooding, but efforts are being made to protect parts of it as nature reserves.

Etymology

Chinese

Cháng Jiāng (长江; 長江), meaning "Long River", is the name for the river in Chinese. The Chinese have given different names to sections of the river.

In Old Chinese, the Yangtze was simply called Jiang/Kiang 江, a character of phono-semantic compound origin. Various sections of the Yangtze have local names. From Yibin to Yichang, the river through Sichuan and Chongqing Municipality is also known as the Chuān Jiāng (川江) or "Sichuan River". In Hubei, the river is also called the Jīng Jiāng (荆江; 荊江) or the "Jing River" after Jingzhou. In Anhui, the river takes on the local name Wǎn Jiāng.

Yángzǐ Jiāng (揚子江; 扬子江) or the "Yangzi River", from which the English name Yangtze is derived, is the local name for the Lower Yangtze in the region of Yangzhou. Europeans who arrived in the Yangtze River Delta region applied this local name to the whole river.

English and other European

In the West, the river was called Quian (江) and Quianshui (江水) by Marco Polo, and appeared on the earliest English maps as Kian or Kiam. By the mid-19th century, these romanizations had standardized as Kiang.

The name Blue River began to be applied in the 18th century, apparently owing to a former name of the Dam Chu or Min.

By 1800, English cartographers such as Aaron Arrowsmith had adopted the French style of the name as Yang-tse or Yang-tse Kiang. The British diplomat Thomas Wade emended this to Yang-tzu Chiang. The spellings Yangtze and Yangtze Kiang was a compromise between the two methods adopted at the 1906 Imperial Postal Conference in Shanghai. Hanyu Pinyin was adopted by the PRC's First Congress in 1958.

Tibetan

The source and upper reaches of the Yangtze are located in ethnic Tibetan areas of Qinghai. In Tibetan, the Tuotuo headwaters are the Machu. The Tongtian is the Drichu (འབྲི་ཆུ་ , 'Bri Chu'), literally "Water of the Female Yak".

Geography

The Yangtze River starts from several tributaries in the eastern part of the Tibetan Plateau. Traditionally, its source is considered to be the Tuotuo tributary at the base of a glacier on the west of Geladandong Mountain in the Tanggula Mountains. However, the true source, found in the late 20th century, is at Jari Hill at the head of the Dam Qu tributary in Zadoi County, Yushu Prefecture, Qinghai.

The river flows eastward through Qinghai, then turns southward between Sichuan and Yunnan. It enters the basin of Sichuan at Yibin, where it gains volume from several large tributaries. The river then cuts through Mount Wushan to form the famous Three Gorges. After passing Yichang, it enters Hubei province and receives water from lakes such as Dongting Lake. At Wuhan, it meets its largest tributary, the Han River. The river continues through Anhui and Jiangsu, finally reaching the East China Sea at Shanghai.

History

Geologic history

The Yangtze River has stayed mostly in the same place while the Yellow River has moved around a lot. Studies of dirt build-up show the Yangtze likely started flowing to where it is now around 11 million years ago. Before that, its water flowed south into the Gulf of Tonkin near the Red River.

Early history

The Yangtze River is very important to the history and culture of southern China and even Japan. People have lived near the Three Gorges for over 27,000 years! By around 5,000 years ago, people in the lower Yangtze were farming rice and living in big villages. These early people had different traditions than those up north—they even blackened their teeth, cut their hair short, and tattooed their bodies!

Later, the Yangtze area became home to powerful ancient cultures. Over time, these cultures mixed with those from northern China. Two groups, the Gouwu in Jiangsu and the Yuyue in Zhejiang, grew stronger with help from northerners. They became known for their skills in fishing, building ships, and making swords.

Eventually, different kingdoms fought for control along the river. One kingdom, Chu, grew very powerful and took over others. Later, the Qin kingdom conquered Chu and brought the whole area under one rule. After the Qin Dynasty fell, southern areas became their own country for a time.

Since the Han Dynasty, the Yangtze River area has been super important for farming and money. By the Song Dynasty, it was one of the richest parts of China. The river also helped people travel for almost 2,000 years before trains and roads took over. An important canal connects the Yangtze to cities far away.

The Yangtze has sometimes been a border between north and south China because it was hard to cross. Many big battles happened there, like the famous Battle of Red Cliffs in the year 208 AD.

Age of steam

Main article: China Station

The first steamboat on the Yangtze was called the Jardine. It tried to sail up the river in 1835 but faced big problems—Chinese leaders didn’t want foreign “fire-ships” on their rivers! This led to tensions that helped start the Opium Wars. Later, companies like the China Navigation Company started regular steamship services along the river.

Navigation on the upper river

Going up the very top part of the Yangtze, from Yichang to Chongqing, was super hard! Fast currents and dangerous rocks made it risky. At one point, people had to tie up to boats to pull ships through the toughest spots! Over time, pilots like Captain Samuel Cornell Plant helped make the route safer. He even wrote a guidebook for sailors! By the early 1900s, more and more steamboats started using this part of the river.

Navy ships

See also: USS Asheville (PG-21), Yangtze Patrol, and Yangtze Incident

Contemporary events

Chairman Mao Zedong famously swam parts of the Yangtze River in 1956 and 1966 to show he was healthy. In 2002, a Danish sailor named Troels Kløvedal became the first foreigner since 1949 to sail all the way up the Yangtze. In 2025, a special car called the Jetour Zongheng G700 became the very first vehicle to cross the whole river!

Hydrology

Tens of millions of people live near the Yangtze River, where flooding is natural each summer. To protect these communities, strong river dikes have been built. Some of the most serious floods happened in 1931, 1954, and 1998, bringing great hardship to the people living along the river.

Since the 1950s, many dams and dikes have been built along the Yangtze River. These structures were created to prevent floods, help with farming, and control diseases. However, cutting off lakes from the river hurt wildlife and made flooding worse downstream. Efforts have been made to reconnect some lakes, which has helped improve water quality, allow fish to migrate, and reduce flooding. These changes have also helped protect endangered animals and support local communities.

Major cities along the river

See also: Category:Populated places on the Yangtze River

The Yangtze River flows through many cities in China. Some of the major cities along the river include Yushu in Qinghai, Panzhihua, Yibin, and Luzhou in Sichuan, and Chongqing.

Further down the river, you can find cities like Yichang and Wuhan in Hubei, Yueyang in Hunan, Nanjing and Yangzhou in Jiangsu, and finally Shanghai before the river enters the East China Sea.

Crossings

For thousands of years, people crossed the Yangtze River by ferry. The river was a big barrier between northern and southern China. In the early 1900s, train passengers had to leave their trains and take a ferry across the river.

The first bridge across the Yangtze River was the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge, finished in 1957 with help from Soviet engineers. It was a special bridge that could carry both cars and trains. More bridges were built over time, including the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge, completed in 1968, and the Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge, finished in 1992.

Today, there are many bridges and one tunnel across the Yangtze River. Some of these bridges are among the longest in the world, like the Sutong Yangtze River Bridge, which was completed in 2008. The city of Wuhan now has six bridges and one tunnel spanning the river. There are also several power line crossings over the Yangtze.

Dams

The Yangtze River has several important dams. The most famous is the Three Gorges Dam, which is the largest power station in the world. Another major dam is the Gezhouba Dam.

Other dams on the upper part of the river, such as on the Jinsha River, include the Baihetan Dam and the Xiluodu Dam. These dams help provide power for many people.

Tributaries

Main article: List of tributaries of the Yangtze

The Yangtze River has over 700 tributaries. Some of the major ones include the Yalong River, Min River, Tuo River, Chishui River, Jialing River, Wu River, Qing River, Yuan River, Lishui River, Zi River, Xiang River, Han River, Gan River, Shuiyang River, Qingyi River, and rivers connected to Chao Lake and Lake Tai.

The Huai River used to flow into the Yellow Sea but now mostly flows into the Yangtze.

Protected areas

The Yangtze River has special protected areas to help keep its natural environment safe. One of these is the Sanjiangyuan ("Three Rivers' Sources") National Nature Reserve in Qinghai. Another is the Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan, which is famous for its beautiful landscapes and wildlife. These places are important for protecting the plants and animals that live near the Yangtze.

Wildlife

The Yangtze River is home to a wide variety of animal life, including many species found nowhere else. It supports 416 different kinds of fish, making it one of the richest rivers in Asia for fish. Many of these fish are special to the Yangtze, and some have sadly disappeared or are in danger because of human activities like fishing and building dams.

Besides fish, the Yangtze River also hosts other animals such as the narrow-ridged finless porpoise, the rare Chinese alligator, and several types of turtles and amphibians. These animals face threats from pollution, habitat loss, and changes to their homes caused by human use of the river. Conservation efforts are important to protect these unique species for the future.

Tourism

The Yangtze River cruise, also called the "Three Gorges cruise", is a popular tourist attraction. People enjoy sailing along the beautiful scenery and historic sites along the river.