Chang Jiang
The
Cháng Jiāng (
Traditional Chinese: 長江,
Simplified Chinese: 长江,
Wade-Giles: Ch'ang Chiang, lit. "Long River") 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 river is about 6,380
km long. It has traditionally been considered a dividing point between north China and south China, although Huai He also shares the claim.
Name
The river is also called Yangtze River (扬子江, Yángzǐ Jiāng or Yangtze Kiang). The name Yangzi was originally used by local people only to refer to the lower reaches of the river. However, because this was the name first heard by missionaries, it has been applied in English to the entire river.
Characteristics
The Chang Jiang flows into the East China Sea. 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.
Major cities along the river
\n*Yibin\n*Panzhihua\n*Luzhou\n*Chongqing\n*Yichang\n*Jingzhou\n*Shishou\n*Yueyang\n*Xianning\n*Wuhan\n*Ezhou\n*Huangshi\n*Huanggang\n*Chaohu\n*Chizhou\n*Jiujiang\n*Anqing\n*Tongling\n*Wuhu\n*Hefei\n*Chuzhou\n*Maanshan\n*Taizhou\n*Yangzhou\n*Zhenjiang\n*Nanjing\n*Nantong\n*Shanghai
Tributaries
\n* Xiangjiang\n*Lishui (Li)\n*Zijiang (Zi)\n*Yuanjiang (Yuan)
Related topics
\n*List of rivers in China \n*Geography of China\n*Yangtze Service Medal
External link
\n*Yangtze River Cruise: Cruises to the Yangtze River.
Category:Asian rivers
\n\n\n\nzh-cn:长江\nzh-tw:長江
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.
