The Songhua
or Sunghwa River (also Haixi or Xingal, russian: Сунгари ''Sungari'') is one of the primary
rivers of China
This incomplete list of rivers that flow through China is organized according to the body of water into which each river empties, beginning with the Sea of Okhotsk in the northeast, moving clockwise on a map and ending with the Arctic Ocean.
Se ...
, and the longest
tributary
A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drai ...
of the
Amur
The Amur (russian: река́ Аму́р, ), or Heilong Jiang (, "Black Dragon River", ), is the world's tenth longest river, forming the border between the Russian Far East and Northeastern China ( Inner Manchuria). The Amur proper is long, ...
. It flows about
from the
Changbai Mountains
The Changbai Mountains ( simplified Chinese:长白山; traditional Chinese:長白山) are a major mountain range in Northeast Asia that extends from the Northeast Chinese provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning, across the border bet ...
on the
China–North Korea border
The China–North Korea border is the international border separating the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). It runs for 1,352 km (840 mi) from the estuary of the Yalu River in th ...
through China's northeastern
Jilin
Jilin (; alternately romanized as Kirin or Chilin) is one of the three provinces of Northeast China. Its capital and largest city is Changchun. Jilin borders North Korea ( Rasŏn, North Hamgyong, Ryanggang and Chagang) and Russia (Prim ...
and
Heilongjiang
Heilongjiang () formerly romanized as Heilungkiang, is a province in northeast China. The standard one-character abbreviation for the province is (). It was formerly romanized as "Heilungkiang". It is the northernmost and easternmost province ...
provinces.
The river drains of land, and has an annual discharge of to .
The extreme flatness of the
Northeast China Plain
The Northeast China Plain (), commonly known as Song liao Plain or the Manchurian Plain or just the Northeast Plain, is located in Northeast China, historically also known as Manchuria. It lies between the Greater and Lesser Khingan and Changba ...
has caused the river to
meander
A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex ba ...
over time, filling the wide plain with
oxbow lakes
An oxbow lake is a U-shaped lake or pool that forms when a wide meander of a river is cut off, creating a free-standing body of water. In South Texas, oxbows left by the Rio Grande are called '' resacas''. In Australia, oxbow lakes are calle ...
, as remnants of the previous paths of the river.
Geography
The Songhua rises south of
Heaven Lake
Heaven Lake (Korean: , ''Ch'ŏnji'' or ''Cheonji''; zh, 天池, ''Tiānchí''; Manchu: ''Tamun omo'' or ''Tamun juce'') is a crater lake on the border between China and North Korea. It lies within a caldera atop the volcanic Paektu Mount ...
, near the
China-
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...
border.
From there it flows north, to be interrupted by the
Baishan
Baishan (, ko, 백산시) is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Jilin province, in the Dongbei (northeastern) part of China. "" literally means "White Mountain", and is named after Changbai Mountain (, also known as Paektu Mountain (Kor ...
,
Hongshi
Hongshi (Manchu: ''Hung ši''; 18 March 1704 – 20 September 1727) was a Manchu prince of the Qing dynasty. Born to the ruling Aisin Gioro clan as the third son of the Yongzheng Emperor, he was banished from the imperial clan in 1725, ostensib ...
and
Fengman hydroelectric dams. The Fengman Dam forms a lake that stretches for . Below the dam, the Second Songhua flows north through
Jilin
Jilin (; alternately romanized as Kirin or Chilin) is one of the three provinces of Northeast China. Its capital and largest city is Changchun. Jilin borders North Korea ( Rasŏn, North Hamgyong, Ryanggang and Chagang) and Russia (Prim ...
, then northwest until it is joined by its largest tributary, the
Nen River, near
Da'an, to create the Songhua proper.
The Songhua turns east through
Harbin, and after the city, it is joined from the south by the
Ashi River, and then by the
Hulan River from the north.
A new dam was constructed in 2007 near
Bayan (50 km northeast of
Harbin), creating the Dadingshan Reservoir, which is named after the scenic area on the south bank ().
The river flows onward through
Jiamusi
Jiamusi (Manchu: ; formerly Kiamusze) is a prefecture-level city in eastern Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China. Located along the middle and lower reaches of the Songhua River, it faces Russia's Khabarovsk Krai across the Ussuri R ...
and south of the
Lesser Xing'an Range, to eventually join the Amur at
Tongjiang, Heilongjiang.
The river freezes from late November until March. It has its highest flows when the mountain snow melts during the spring thaw. The river is
navigable
A body of water, such as a river, canal or lake, is navigable if it is deep, wide and calm enough for a water vessel (e.g. boats) to pass safely. Such a navigable water is called a ''waterway'', and is preferably with few obstructions against di ...
up to Harbin by medium-sized ships. Smaller craft can navigate the Songhua up to
Jilin
Jilin (; alternately romanized as Kirin or Chilin) is one of the three provinces of Northeast China. Its capital and largest city is Changchun. Jilin borders North Korea ( Rasŏn, North Hamgyong, Ryanggang and Chagang) and Russia (Prim ...
and the Nen River up to
Qiqihar
Qiqihar () is the second-largest city in the Heilongjiang province of China, in the west central part of the province. The built-up (or metro) area made up of Longsha, Tiefeng and Jianhua districts had 959,787 inhabitants, while the total populat ...
.
Cities along the river include:
*
Jilin
Jilin (; alternately romanized as Kirin or Chilin) is one of the three provinces of Northeast China. Its capital and largest city is Changchun. Jilin borders North Korea ( Rasŏn, North Hamgyong, Ryanggang and Chagang) and Russia (Prim ...
*
Harbin
*
Jiamusi
Jiamusi (Manchu: ; formerly Kiamusze) is a prefecture-level city in eastern Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China. Located along the middle and lower reaches of the Songhua River, it faces Russia's Khabarovsk Krai across the Ussuri R ...
History
In November 2005, the river was
contaminated with benzene, leading to a shutdown of Harbin's water supply. The spill stretched and eventually reached the Amur (Heilong) River on the
China–Russia border
The Chinese–Russian border or the Sino-Russian border is the international border between China and Russia. After the final demarcation carried out in the early 2000s, it measures , and is the world's sixth-longest international border.
The Ch ...
. On July 28, 2010, several thousand barrels from two chemical plants in China's Jilin City were washed away by
floods. Some of them contained of explosive material like
trimethylsilyl chloride
Trimethylsilyl chloride, also known as chlorotrimethylsilane is an organosilicon compound (silyl halide), with the formula (CH3)3SiCl, often abbreviated Me3SiCl or TMSCl. It is a colourless volatile liquid that is stable in the absence of water. I ...
and
hexamethyldisiloxane.
Defence lines were opened in attempt to intercept the barrels with chemicals
RIA Novosti, 30.07.2010 In 2016, the part near the city of Jilin was affected by a minor flood.
See also
* Geography of China
China has great physical diversity. The eastern plains and southern coasts of the country consist of fertile lowlands and foothills. They are the location of most of China's agricultural output and human population. The southern areas of th ...
* Mudanjiang River
Mudanjiang (; Manchu: ''Mudan bira''), alternately romanized as Mutankiang, is a prefecture-level city in the southeast part of Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China. It was called ''Botankou'' under Japanese occupation. It serves as ...
* " Along the Songhua River", a Chinese patriotic song
References
External links
{{Authority control
Rivers of Heilongjiang
Rivers of Jilin
Harbin
Jilin City
Geography of Yanbian