Yangtze river geography

Yangtze River 

(or, "Changjiang" in Chinese, literally, the "long river"),

Or 

The name directly translates from simplified Chinese to "long river", but can also mean "child of the ocean" in other dialects.

 is the longest river in China, running 6,300 kilometers (3915 miles). It is also the third longest river in the world.

Where does the Yangtze River begin and end?

The Yangtze river begins in the Tibetan mountains at Mount Tanggula and courses the length of China from west to east. It ends at the East China Sea, near the city of Shanghai.

 Its basin, extending for some 2,000 miles from west to east and for more than 600 miles from north to south, drains a huge area in South China. The Yangtze also carries more water than any other river in China.

The Yangtze is open to navigation all the year around. The picture to the left features one of the so-called "Three Gorges," dangerous to navigate because of its currents and shallows, but of incredible beauty.

Lake Dongting 

is the second largest lake in China. It lies in a basin in northern Hunan province to the south of the Yangtze River and is connected to the river.

Three Gorges Dam

The Three Gorges Dam is the largest hydroelectric power generation station in the world. It was completed in May 2006 and measures 192 meters high and 12.3 km across. The dam is located about 1,610 km to the west of Shanghai, in the Three Gorges Region.  

In general, the dam was built to increase shipping capacity, produce electricity, and reduce the occurrence of dangerous floods. However, according to International Rivers, the dam causes its own environmental disasters. Furthermore, its construction also displaced over 12 million people from their homes.