Yangtze River is China's largest river and the river has also been a shipping route in history.
This is a big river, it is more than 6,385 km long, the same length as the Mississippi River. Only the Amazon and the Nile are longer. It is the world's fifth largest river in terms of water flow, with more than 30,000 cubic meters per second, almost twice that of the Mississippi or Mekong, three times that of the Saint Lawrence, four times that of the Danube or Columbia, and more than ten times that of a stream. like the Rhine or the Nile.The Yangtze River is the longest river in Asia and the third in the world after the Nile in Africa, the Amazon in South America.
The Yangtze River is about 6,385 km long, originates in the west of China and flows east to the East China Sea, China. Usually the river is considered as the dividing point between North and South China, although the Huai River (淮河) is also sometimes referred to as such.
The Yangtze is China's largest river in terms of length, flow, area, basin, and economic influence. The Yangtze originates in the highlands of Qinghai province, flows south, along the border of the Tibetan plateau into Yunnan province, then turns northeast into Sichuan province, through Hubei provinces, Jiangxi, Anhui and Jiangsu then empties into the sea between the Yellow Sea and the South Sea.
overview
The Yangtze has been an important transportation route with major cities along its banks for thousands of years.
The Chinese Empire first developed along the Yellow River (Huang He) and soon spread to two other great regions - the Yangtze downstream and the rich agricultural lands of Sichuan thousands of kilometers away. or more upstream. Due to being the main link between the regions, the Yangtze River has been the most important passage in Chinese history.
The original name Yangtze is the name of the people in the lower part of this river to refer to the river flowing through it. Because it was popularized by European missionaries, the name "Yangzi" was used in English to refer to the whole river (Yangtse, Yangtze Kiang). The rest of this article will use the name Truong Giang to refer to this river. This river is also sometimes called the Golden Waterway.
City
Many of China's largest cities are located along the Yangtze River. Except for Shanghai there was no 19th century Chinese commercial importance that made it one of the great cities in the world - all of these have been around for millennia. Listed from mouth to river, they are:
- Shanghai, major trading port, financial and fashion capital of modern China
- Non source
- Yangzhou
- Tran Giang
- Nanjing, national capital under several dynasties, rivals Beijing for historical importance, capital of Jiangsu
- Wuhan, important in 19th century commerce and modern industry, capital of Hubei
- Yichang, the gateway to the Three Gorges
- Chongqing, one of China's largest cities
The Yangtze River originates from several tributaries upstream, however, two of which are considered to be its headwaters are the Tuotuo and Dan Qu tributaries. The Chinese government believes that the source of the Tuotuo tributary originates from the foot of the glacier located west of Mount Geladandong in the Dangla Mountains on the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau. However, according to geographical sources (such as the longest river from the sea), its source is located in the wetland at coordinates 32˚36'14”N, 94˚30'44 E and an altitude of 5170 m above sea level. seawater, is the source of the Dan Qu2. These tributaries confluence and then flow eastward through Qinghai, then round to the south to form a deep valley at the border of Sichuan and Tibet and then to Yunnan. Within this valley, the elevation of the river drops sharply from above 5000m to less than 1000m.
Few tourists follow the Yangtze River too Chongqing. However, visitors on the Yunnan tourist trail see some of the upper reaches of the river near Lijiang.
Several other important and ancient cities are not actually on the Yangtze River, but are easily accessible from it:
- Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang - close to Shanghai and connected by Grand Canals to Suzhou and Wuxi
- Suzhou, famous for its gardens and canals, residence of scholars, painters and poets - between Shanghai and Wuxi
- Chengdu, capital of Sichuan - near Chongqing and on one of the tributaries of the Yangtze River
Of course there are dozens of smaller cities as well.
To go
The most famous part of this route is traveling by cruise ship through the Three Gorges between Chongqing and Yichang. With the recent three massive Three Gorges Dam projects, the route has changed dramatically but it's still definitely worth a visit. However beware of the types of boats and the classes in those boats. Traveling on a Chinese tour boat in "first class" may not be what you think" (one tourist complained about "rats everywhere"). If you really want a good experience on the Yangtze River, you should better choose Yangtze luxury cruise in 4 or 5 star rating. Luxury cruises include all fare for shore excursions with an English speaking guide and all meals on board, except for dinner on deck for the day. Tourists traveling on luxury yachts are very satisfied with the journey.
Arrive
Planes
Shanghai has a large international airport that is connected anywhere. Other major cities on the route have airports and good connections within China, but not many international flights. However, KLM flies Amsterdam-Chengdu and Amsterdam-Kunming, Lufthansa Frankfurt-Nanjing and Korean Air have flights from Seoul to a number of cities. Finnair offers direct flights to Chongqing.
From Southeast Asia, the only discount flights into this region are Air Asia Kuala Lumpur to Hangzhou.Vietnam Airlines has routes between Vietnam and Shanghai and Chengdu.