The river is a major transportation artery for China, connecting the interior with the coast. ", "Geomorphological Evolution of the Hengshixi Anticline of The Three Gorges Area Through Isobases: A Model of Yangtze River Capture", Mass Accumulation Rates in Asia During the Cenozoic, The Marine Geological Record of Neogene Erosional in Asia: Interpreting the Sedimentary Record to Understand Tectonic and Climatic Evolution in the Wake of India-Asia Collision, Lingqu Canal (Xiang'an County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Qin Dynasty), "The Tools of Imperialism: Technology and the Expansion of European Colonial Empires in the Nineteenth Century", "Cornell Plant, Lost Girls and Recovered Lives – Sino-British Relations at the Human Level in Late Qing and Early Republican China", "Isolated Yangtze lakes reunited with mother river", "Yangtze River Turns Red and Turns Up a Mystery", "Almost all plastic in the ocean comes from just 10 rivers – 30.11.2017", "Export of Plastic Debris by Rivers into the Sea", "Up to 23 feet long, the Chinese paddlefish was the giant of the Yangtze. The floods caused $26 billion in damages.[88]. Chinese companies ran their own steamers, but were second tier to European operations at the time. Probably the most curious incident involved HMS Amethyst in 1949 during the Chinese Civil War between Kuomintang and People's Liberation Army forces; and led to the award of the Dickin Medal to the ship's cat Simon. Westerners were forced to leave areas neighboring the Yangtze River with the Japanese takeover in 1941. The first USS Palos, an armed tug, was on Asiatic Station into 1891, cruising the Chinese and Japanese coasts, visiting the open treaty ports and making occasional voyages up the Yangtze River. They fell in against themselves, however. -- As China's capability of flood control and disaster relief improves, the loss of property and life has dramatically decreased.-- Over 2,500 flood-related risks have occurred in the five provinces in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and all of them have been effectively handled. When floods came, it proved impossible to open the gates since it would have caused substantial destruction. The last gorge, Xiling, is located upstream of Yichang and extends for a distance of 21 miles; in places limestone cliffs rise directly out of the water, although with the rise of the reservoir to much lower heights than before. In 1969, a large stone monument was erected in the riverside park in Hankou (City of Wuhan, Hubei) honoring the heroic deeds in fighting the 1954 flood.Among the … The Empire of China and island of Japan, agreeable to modern history. This paper is composed of four main sections. After returning to Shanghai in August, she sailed up river again the following summer, passing Wuhu in June but then running aground off Kichau on July 1, 1911. The flood has taken its worst toll in those areas which previously served as natural flood plains for the Yangtze river and its tributaries. [dubious – discuss]. The regular seasonal spring floods of the Nile River … This part of its course lies in the higher regions of the Tibetan highlands. As the kingdoms of Wu and Yue, they were famed as fishers, shipwrights, and sword-smiths. Located in this area is Chongqing, a major industrial centre and river port. The spellings Yangtze and Yangtze Kiang was a compromise between the two methods adopted at the 1906 Imperial Postal Conference in Shanghai, which established postal romanization. Chinese coastal trade started shortly after and in 1883 a regular service to Australia was initiated. Lake Dongting and the Yuan, Zi, Li, and Xiang Rivers in Hunan, Jialing River in eastern Sichuan and Chongqing Municipality, The Yangtze River has a high species richness, including many endemics. Wu, the second gorge, stretches for about 30 miles (50 km); it is a narrow, steep corridor with almost vertical walls of heights up to 1,600 or even 2,000 feet above the river. Xiling Gorge, in the Three Gorges section of the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang), as it appeared before completion of the Three Gorges Dam, Hubei province, China. 36 of 69. North of latitude 26° N these great rivers diverge, and the Yangtze turns east to pass through a winding valley with steep slopes. Its drainage basin comprises one-fifth of the land area of China, and is home to nearly one-third of the country's population. In most of this segment, the river crosses hilly Sichuan province, where the lower mountains and plateaus connect the highlands of southwestern China with the Qin (Tsinling) Mountains lying between the Yangtze and Huang He (Yellow River) basins. Pioneer was sold to Royal Navy after its first run due to threat from the Boxer Rebellion and renamed HMS Kinsha. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. This paper examines the main causes ofthe 1998 flood on the Yangtze and addresses a numberof issues related to the exploitation of naturalresources and counter-measures to the flood hazard.The records show that both the amount of precipitationover the catchment and the floodwater discharge fromthe upper basin did not exceed the historical maximum,but water … The river was called Quian (江) and Quianshui (江水) by Marco Polo[28] and appeared on the earliest English maps as Kian or Kiam,[29][30] all recording dialects which preserved forms of the Middle Chinese pronunciation of 江 as Kæwng. The US, at the same time, wanting to protect its interests and expand trade, ventured the USS Wachusett six hundred miles up the river to Hankow sometime in the 1860s, while the USS Ashuelot, a sidewheeler, made her way up the river to Yichang in 1874. The Yangtze has long been the backbone of China's inland water transportation system, which remained particularly important for almost two thousand years, until the construction of the national railway network during the 20th century. These tributaries join and the river then runs eastward through Qinghai (Tsinghai), turning southward down a deep valley at the border of Sichuan (Szechwan) and Tibet to reach Yunnan. The true source of the Yangtze, hydrologically the longest river distance from the sea, is at Jari Hill at the head of the Dam Qu tributary, approximately 325 km (202 mi) southeast of Geladandong. Glantz, Mickey. Four of China's five main freshwater lakes contribute their waters to the Yangtze River. In the Shanghai area, reestablished wetlands now protect drinking water sources for the city. [98] About ​2⁄3 of the total freshwater fisheries in China are in the Yangtze Basin,[108] but a drastic decline in size of several important species has been recorded, as highlighted by data from lakes in the river basin. [86] The Yangtze then widens to between 1,000 and 1,300 feet (300 and 400 metres), reaching depths often exceeding 30 feet (9 metres). In 2006 the baiji dolphin became extinct; the world lost an entire genus. Is China the most densely populated country on Earth? The Yangtze flows through a wide array of ecosystems and is habitat to several endemic and threatened species including the Chinese alligator, the narrow-ridged finless porpoise and the Yangtze sturgeon, but also was the home of the extinct Yangtze river dolphin (or baiji) and Chinese paddlefish. Together with 9 other rivers, the Yangtze transports 90% of all the plastic that reaches the oceans. After staying stuck in the mud for two weeks, Samar broke free and sailed back down river to coal ship. [74], In 1842 the Qing authorities sued for peace, which concluded with the Treaty of Nanking signed on a warship in the river, negotiated in August of that year and ratified in 1843. Mender, P., Thirty Years A Mariner in the Far East 1907–1937, The Memoirs of Peter Mender, A Standard Oil Ship Captain on China's Yangtze River, p.53. [21][33]) By 1800, English cartographers such as Aaron Arrowsmith had adopted the French style of the name[47] as Yang-tse or Yang-tse Kiang. The British, Americans, and French did this. During the course of service the second USS Palos protected American interests in China down the entire length of the Yangtze, at times convoying U.S. and foreign vessels on the river, evacuating American citizens during periods of disturbance and in general giving credible presence to U.S. consulates and residences in various Chinese cities. Freshets from Himalayan snowmelt created treacherous seasonal currents. After entering Hubei, the Yangtze receives water from a number of lakes. [50] This source was only discovered in the late 20th century and lies in wetlands at 32°36′14″N 94°30′44″E / 32.60389°N 94.51222°E / 32.60389; 94.51222 and 5,170 m (16,960 ft) above sea level just southeast of Chadan Township in Zadoi County, Yushu Prefecture, Qinghai.