The Wu River () is the largest southern
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 drainage ...
of the
Yangtze River
The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest list of rivers of Asia, river in Asia, the list of rivers by length, third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in th ...
. Nearly its entire length of runs within the isolated, mountainous and ethnically diverse province of
Guizhou
Guizhou (; formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked province in the southwest region of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Guiyang, in the center of the province. Guizhou borders the autonomous region of Guangxi to t ...
. The river takes drainage from a watershed.
The river flows through the
Liupanshui,
Anshun
Anshun () is a prefecture-level city located in southwestern Guizhou province, southwest China, near the Huangguoshu Waterfall, the tallest in China. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 2,297,339. The city proper had a population o ...
,
Guiyang
Guiyang (; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ), historically rendered as Kweiyang, is the capital of Guizhou province of the People's Republic of China. It is located in the center of the province, situated on the east of the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau, ...
(the capital),
Qiannan
Qiannan Buyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture (; Buyei: ''Qianfnanf Buxqyaix Buxyeeuz ziqziqzouy''; Hmu: ''Qeef Naif Dol Yat Dol Hmub Zid Zid Zeb'') is an autonomous prefecture of Guizhou province, People's Republic of China, bordering Guangxi to ...
, and
Zunyi
Zunyi () is a prefecture-level city in northern Guizhou province, People's Republic of China, situated between the provincial capital Guiyang to the south and Chongqing to the north, also bordering Sichuan to the northwest. Along with Guiyang an ...
Districts of Guizhou. All nine regions of the province have at least partial drainage to the river.
Course
![Yangtze wujiang converge](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/Yangtze_wujiang_converge.jpg)
The river begins as the ''Sancha'' in western Guizhou and flows eastwards about . It then bends north, west and south in a reach called the Yachi, and receives the Nanming River from the right. After the Yachi reach, the Wu makes a broad arc northeast through central Guizhou, picking up fifteen major tributaries including the Yu, Furong and Ya Rivers and flowing through several large
hydroelectric
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...
dams. It then crosses the border into the
provincial-level
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
of
Chongqing
Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Romanization, alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a Direct-administered municipalities of China, municipality in Southwes ...
, flows past
Wushan,
Badong and
Zigui, and empties into the Yangtze River at
Fuling
Fuling District () is a district in central Chongqing, China. The area is known for ''zha cai'', a hot pickled mustard tuber, as well as serving as the location of former U.S. Peace Corps teacher Peter Hessler's best-selling memoir '' River Town: ...
, some east-northeast of
Chongqing
Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Romanization, alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a Direct-administered municipalities of China, municipality in Southwes ...
, in the Wu Gorge of the
Three Gorges
The Three Gorges () are three adjacent gorges along the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, in the hinterland of the People's Republic of China. With a subtropical monsoon climate, they are known for their scenery. The "Three Gorges Scenic A ...
of the Yangtze. Part of the lower course of the river is flooded by the reservoir of
Three Gorges Dam
The Three Gorges Dam is a hydroelectric gravity dam that spans the Yangtze River by the town of Sandouping, in Yiling District, Yichang, Hubei province, central China, downstream of the Three Gorges. The Three Gorges Dam has been the world ...
.
History
Many small river towns along the Wu, such as
Gongtan, date back to as early as 200 A.D. Fuling is regarded as the first major town to be built on the river. The city was the capital of the ancient
Ba state in the
Sichuan
Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...
area. During the
Qin Dynasty
The Qin dynasty ( ; zh, c=秦朝, p=Qín cháo, w=), or Ch'in dynasty in Wade–Giles romanization ( zh, c=, p=, w=Ch'in ch'ao), was the first Dynasties in Chinese history, dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin (state), ...
, the region was brought under Chinese control.
The Wu Gorge is also known as "Golden Helmet and Silver Armor Gorge". The name originates from a helmet-shaped rock formation above the river and a silver-colored cliff of slate. Another name for Wu Gorge is "Iron Coffin Gorge".
River modifications
The Wu River has been extensively developed for
hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other Renewabl ...
generation. , dams along the river had a combined capacity of 8,500
megawatt
The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units, International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), ...
s (MW). Much of this development is extremely recent, as power generation in 2010 was over four times of that in 2005. Most dams on the river were constructed and owned by the
Wujiang Hydropower Corporation Wujiang or Wu Jiang may refer to:
Places
*Wujiang District, Shaoguan (), a district of Shaoguan, Guangdong
*Wujiang District, Suzhou (), a district in Suzhou, Jiangsu
* Wujiang railway station ( zh; ), a freight-only station on the Sichuan–Guizh ...
. The largest dam, the
Goupitan Dam
The Goupitan Dam () is an arch dam on the Wu River, a tributary of the Yangtze River in Guizhou Province
Guizhou (; formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked province in the southwest region of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and la ...
, was completed in 2011. Aside from producing power, dams on the Wu River also provide flood control and hydraulic head for irrigation operations.
The lower reaches of the river are heavily polluted because of poor sewage systems and dumping of agricultural waste – so much that it is not even considered suitable for irrigation and industrial purposes.
About of the river's lower course forms an arm of the
Wu Gorge
Wu Gorge (), sometimes called Great Gorge (), is the second gorge of the Three Gorges system on the Yangtze River, People's Republic of China. Formed by the Wu River, it stretches from Wushan to Guandukou, and is located downstream of Qutang ...
(Big Gorge or Second Gorge) of the Three Gorges, now submerged in up to of water from Three Gorges Reservoir. In late 2008, geological instabilities caused landslides with volumes of . It is speculated that the former slide is part of a larger unstable slope with as much as . The latter slide caused a wave that swamped boats up to away.
The 10 dams on the river that are either completed, under construction or planned, , are listed below from downstream to upstream.
*
Daxikou Dam – Cancelled, 1,200 MW
*
Baimato Dam – Programmed, 350 MW
*
Yinpan Dam – Completed, 600 MW
*
Pengshui Dam – Completed, 1,750 MW
*
Shatuo Dam – Completed, 1,120 MW
*
Silin Dam – Completed, 1,050 MW
*
Goupitan Dam
The Goupitan Dam () is an arch dam on the Wu River, a tributary of the Yangtze River in Guizhou Province
Guizhou (; formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked province in the southwest region of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and la ...
– Completed, 3,000 MW
*
Wujiangdu Dam
The Wujiangdu Dam is an arch-gravity dam on the Wu River south of Zunyi, Guizhou Province, China. The purpose of the dam is hydroelectric power generation, flood control and navigation. The dam's power stations contain five generators for a total ...
– Completed, 1,250 MW
*
Suofengying Dam – Completed, 600 MW
*
Dongfeng Dam
The Dongfeng Dam is an arch dam on the Wu River northwest of Qingzhen in Guizhou Province, China. The primary purpose of the dam is hydroelectric power generation and it supports a 570 MW power station. Construction on the dam began in 1989 and t ...
– Completed, 695 MW
Navigation
In the 1950s, local governments began an ambitious project to increase the navigability of the Wu River. The lower of the river were
dredged
Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing da ...
of sediment and hundreds of sets of rapids were destroyed by explosive charges. Navigation on the upper river, in contrast, reflects the difficulty of traversing the Yangtze in the Three Gorges region before the construction of Three Gorges Dam. With the creation of the reservoir behind this dam, navigation on the lower reaches of the Wu has increased significantly.
Bridges
There are many spectacular bridges along the course of the Wu River. These include (from mouth heading upstream):
*
Fuling Arch Bridge
Fuling Arch Bridge () is a concrete arch bridge in Fuling, Chongqing, China. The bridge spans over the Wu River.
See also
*List of longest arch bridge spans
This list of the longest arch bridge spans ranks the world's arch bridge
An arch ...
*
Fuling Wu River Bridge
*
Jiangjiehe Bridge
Jiangjiehe Bridge is a concrete arch bridge in Weng'an County, Guizhou, China, spanning 330 metres over the Wu River. At 256 metres high the Jiangjiehe Bridge was the highest bridge in China from 1995 when it opened until 2001 when the 297-metre- ...
*
Zunyi Bridge
*
Wujiang Viaduct
*
Liuguanghe Xiqian Expressway Bridge
The Liuguanghe Xiqian Expressway Bridge is a 375 metres high cable-stay bridge crossing the Yachi River between Xiuwen, Guiyang, and Qianxi, Bijie in Guizhou, China.
The Liuguanghe Bridge will carry traffic on the Xifeng to Qianxi Express ...
under construction
*
Liuguanghe Bridge
Liuguanghe Bridge is a beam bridge at Liu Guangzhen, Guizhou, China. It held the record for world's highest bridge between 2001 and 2003, surpassing the 72-year-old, Royal Gorge Bridge, until the opening of the Beipan River Guanxing Highway B ...
*
Yachi Railway Bridge under construction
*
Yachi Bridge
*
Najiehe Railway Bridge
The Najiehe Railway Bridge is a steel arch bridge in central Guizhou, China. With a rail height of , this is the highest railway bridge in world. The truss arch is also one of the longest arch bridges with a main span of . The bridge crosses ...
*
Dimuhe River Bridge
The Dimuhe River Bridge is a suspension bridge near Liupanshui, Guizhou, China. With a road deck high, this is one of the highest suspension bridges in world. The bridge is part of the G56 Hangzhou–Ruili Expressway
The Hangzhou–Ruili Expre ...
See also
*
List of 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 ...
References
{{Coord, 29.7167, N, 107.4000, E, source:wikidata, display=title
Rivers of Guizhou
Rivers of Chongqing
Tributaries of the Yangtze River