The Red River, also known as the Hong River (; vi, Sông Hồng;
Chữ Nôm
Chữ Nôm (, ; ) is a logographic writing system formerly used to write the Vietnamese language. It uses Chinese characters ('' Chữ Hán'') to represent Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary and some native Vietnamese words, with other words represent ...
: 瀧紅;
Chữ Hán: 紅河), the ' and ' (
lit. "Mother River") in Vietnamese, and the (, ' Nguyên Giang) in Chinese, is a -long river that flows from
Yunnan
Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the ...
in
Southwest China through northern
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making ...
to the
Gulf of Tonkin. According to C. Michael Hogan, the associated
Red River Fault was instrumental in forming the entire
South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Ph ...
at least as early as 37 million years before present. The name red and southern position in China are associated in traditional
cardinal directions.
Geography
The Red River begins in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
's
Yunnan
Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the ...
province in the mountains south of
Dali. Main headstreams Leqiu River, Xi River and Juli River confluence at
Nanjian where they form the Lishe River. The Lishe River meets with another headstream, the Yijie River at Hongtupo,
Chuxiong Prefecture
Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture (; Chuxiong Yi script: ,IPA: ; Yi script: ꊉꇑꆑꌠꑼꂰ; Yi Pinyin: wop lup nut su yuop mi) is an autonomous prefecture located in central Yunnan Province, China. Chuxiong has an area of . The capital of ...
. It flows generally southeastward, passing through
Yi and
Dai ethnic minority areas before leaving China through Yunnan's
Honghe Autonomous Prefecture. It enters Vietnam at
Lào Cai province and forms a portion of the international border between China and Vietnam. The river, known as
Thao River
Thao River ( vi, sông Thao) is the upper stretch of the Red River, originates from Weishan Yi and Hui Autonomous County, Yunnan Province, China, flows through three Vietnamese provinces, including Lao Cai Province, Yen Bai Province and Phu T ...
for this upper stretch, continues its southeasterly course through northwestern Vietnam before emerging from the mountains to reach the midlands. Its main tributaries, the
Black River (Da River) and
Lô River join in to form the very broad Hồng near the city of
Việt Trì,
Phú Thọ province.
Downstream from Việt Trì, the river and its main distributaries, the
Đuống River,
Kinh Thầy River,
Bạch Đằng River and the
Thái Bình river system
The Thái Bình river system is one of the two major river systems in the Red River Delta, Vietnam. (the other one is the Red River system). The system consists of 8 rivers flowing in northern Vietnam. This system joining with Red River system crea ...
spread out to form the
Red River Delta. The Red River flows past the Vietnamese capital
Hanoi
Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi i ...
before emptying into the
Gulf of Tonkin. Its
estuary
An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...
is an important
Ramsar site and forms the main part of the
Xuân Thủy National Park.
The reddish-brown heavily silt-laden water gives the river its name. The Red River is notorious for its violent floods with its seasonally wide volume fluctuations. Intense seasonal floods are made worse by erosion, development, and pollution. The delta is a major agricultural area of Vietnam with vast area devoted to rice. The land is protected by an elaborate network of dikes and
levees.
As a travel and transportation route
In the 19th century, the Red River was thought to be a lucrative trade route to China. The late 19th-century French explorers were able to travel up the Red River until
Manhao in South
Yunnan
Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the ...
, and then overland toward
Kunming.
The Red River remained the main commercial travel route between the
French Indochina
French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China),; vi, Đông Dương thuộc Pháp, , lit. 'East Ocean under French Control; km, ឥណ្ឌូចិនបារាំង, ; th, อินโดจีนฝรั่งเศส, ...
and Yunnan until the opening of the
Kunming–Haiphong Railway in 1910. Although French steamers would be able to go as far upstream as
Lao Cai __NOTOC__
Lao may refer to:
Laos
* Something of, from, or related to Laos, a country in Southeast Asia
* Lao people (people from Laos, or of Lao descent)
* The Lao language
* Lao script, the writing system used to write the Lao language
** Lao ...
during the rainy season,
during the dry season (November to April) steamship would not go upstream of
Yên Bái
Yên Bái () is a city in Vietnam. It is the capital of Yên Bái Province, in the north-east region of Vietnam. The city borders Yên Bình District and Trấn Yên District. The city is a settlement along the banks of the Red River, approxi ...
; thus, during that part of the year goods were moved by small vessels (
junks).
Thanks to the river,
Haiphong was in the early 20th century the sea port most easily accessible from Kunming. Still, the travel time between Haiphong and Kunming was reckoned by the Western authorities at 28 days: it involved 16 days of travel by steamer and then a small boat up the Red River to Manhao (425 miles), and then 12 days overland (194 miles) to Kunming.
Manhao was considered the head of navigation for the smallest vessels (''wupan'' 五版); so Yunnan's products such as
tin would be brought to Manhao by pack mules, where they would be loaded to boats to be sent downstream.
On the Manhao to
Lao Cai __NOTOC__
Lao may refer to:
Laos
* Something of, from, or related to Laos, a country in Southeast Asia
* Lao people (people from Laos, or of Lao descent)
* The Lao language
* Lao script, the writing system used to write the Lao language
** Lao ...
section, where the current may be quite fast, especially during the
freshet season, traveling upstream in an ''wupan'' was much more difficult than downstream. According to one report, one could descend from Manhao to Lao Cai in just 10 hours, while sailing in the reverse direction could take 10 days, and sometimes as much as one month.
Dams
Several hydroelectric dams have been constructed on the Red River in Yunnan:
[Commissioned, Under Construction and Planned Dams in April 2016](_blank)
(WLE Greater Mekong)
*
Da Wan Dam
*
Dachunhe I Dam
*
Dachunhe II Dam
*
Nansha Dam Nansha (, p ''Nánshā'', "Southern Sands") may refer to the following places:
* Nansha District/Nansha New Area (; ) in Guangzhou, formed from Panyu District in 2005 and a special development zone established in 2012
* Nansha District ...
, near Nansha Town,
Yuanyang County
*
Madushan Dam, near
Manhao Town,
Gejiu City
Many more dams exist on the Red River's tributaries, both in Yunnan and in Vietnam.
One of the earliest of them is the
Thác Bà Dam in Vietnam, constructed in 1972, which forms the
Thác Bà Lake.
Settlements
China (中國)
*
Yunnan
Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the ...
(雲南)
**
Honghe (紅河)
**
Nansha Town, the county seat of
Yuanyang County, Yunnan (南沙鎮)
**
Manhao Town (
Gejiu County-level City) (蔓耗鎮)
**
Hekou Yao Autonomous County (河口瑤族自治縣)
Vietnam (Việt Nam)
*
Hà Nội
**
Tây Hồ district
**
Ba Đình district
BA, Ba, or ba may refer to:
Businesses and organizations
* Bangladesh Army
* Bibliotheca Alexandrina, an Egyptian library and cultural center
* Boeing (NYSE stock symbol BA)
* Booksellers Association of the UK and Ireland
* Boston Acoustics, ...
**
Hoàn Kiếm district
**
Hai Bà Trưng district
**
Long Biên district
**
Gia Lâm district
Gia Lâm is the easternmost rural district (''huyện'') of Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam. Prior to 2003, the district covered the entire area of Long Biên district, which included Long Biên Bridge, Gia Lâm Airport, Gia Lâm railway st ...
**
Hoàng Mai district
**
Ba Vì district
**
Đan Phượng district
**
Đông Anh district
**
Mê Linh district
**
Phúc Thọ district
**
Phú Xuyên district
**
Sơn Tây town
**
Thanh Trì district
**
Thường Tín district
**
Từ Liêm district
*
Hà Nam province
**
Duy Tiên district
Duy () is a Vietnamese given name. Notable people with the name include:
* Đái Duy Ban (born 1937), Vietnamese scientist
* Đào Duy Từ (1572–1634), Vietnamese poet
* Duy Tân (1899–1945), Emperor of Vietnam
* Phạm Duy (1921–2013), Vi ...
**
Lý Nhân district
*
Hưng Yên province
**
Văn Giang district
**
Khoái Châu district
**
Kim Động district
**
Hưng Yên
**
Tiên Lữ district
*
Lào Cai province
**
Bảo Yên district
**
Bảo Thắng district
*
Nam Định province
**
Nam Trực district
Nam, Nam, or The Nam are shortened terms for:
* Vietnam, which is also spelled ''Viet Nam''
* The Vietnam War
Nam, The Nam or NAM may also refer to:
Arts and media
* Nam, a fictional character in anime series ''Dragon Ball''
* ''NAM'' (video ...
**
Giao Thủy district
**
Trực Ninh district
**
Xuân Trường district
Xuân Trường is a rural district of Nam Định province in the Red River Delta region of Vietnam. As of 2003 the district had a population of 179,765. The district covers an area of 113 km2. The district capital lies at Xuân Trườ ...
*
Phú Thọ province
**
Cẩm Khê district (old name:
Sông Thao district)
**
Hạ Hòa
**
Lâm Thao
**
Phú Thọ
**
Tam Nông
**
Thanh Ba
**
Thanh Thủy
**
Việt Trì
*
Thái Bình province
**
Hưng Hà district
**
Vũ Thư district
**
Kiến Xương district
**
Tiền Hải district
*
Vĩnh Phúc province
**
Vĩnh Tường district
**
Yên Lạc district
*
Yên Bái province
**
Trấn Yên district
**
Văn Yên district
See also
*
Yuan River and
Yuanjiang (disambiguation)
*
Red River Delta
*
Red River Fault
*
Geography of China
*
Geography of Vietnam
References
* Administration, E., & Hogan, C. (2013). South China Sea. Retrieved fro
Encyclopedia of Earthearthtrends.wri.org, Water Resources eAtlas, Hong (Red River)
External links
{{Authority control
Rivers of Yunnan
Rivers of Hanoi
Rivers of Hưng Yên province
Rivers of Nam Định province
Rivers of Thái Bình province
Rivers of Lào Cai province
Rivers of Yên Bái province
Rivers of Phú Thọ province
Rivers of Vĩnh Phúc province
Rivers of Hà Nam province
International rivers of Asia
Gulf of Tonkin
China–Vietnam border
Geography of Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture
Geography of Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture
Geography of Yuxi
Geography of Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture
Rivers of Vietnam