The You River () is the largest tributary of the

Yuan River The Yuan River, also known by its Chinese name as the Yuanjiang, is one of the four largest rivers in Hunan province in southeast-central China. It is a tributary of Yangtze River. It is long and rises in Guizhou province in the Miao Mountains n ...

, one of main rivers in the

Wuling Mountains The Wuling Mountains () are a mountain range located in Central China, running from Chongqing Municipality and East Guizhou to West Hunan. They are home to many ethnic groups, including as the Tujia, Han, Miao, Dong, and Bai. Wulingyuan Th ...

Southwest China Southwest China () is a region in the south of the People's Republic of China. Geography Southwest China is a rugged and mountainous region, transitioning between the Tibetan Plateau to the west and the Chinese coastal hills (东南丘陵) and ...

. Its other name is Gengshi River (); it was called Youxi River () in ancient times.酉水的魅力 (Chinese)
enshi.cn (25-Jun-15)
/ref> Its trunk stream flows through

Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The prov ...

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 ...

and

Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to ...

, and its

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...

reaches into

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 ...

. Its watershed covers an area of , including of Hubei, of Hunan, of Chongqing and of Guizhou; it has a length of . The valley of the You River was home of the ancient

Ba people Ba () was an ancient state in eastern Sichuan, China. Its original capital was Yicheng (Enshi City), Hubei. Ba was conquered by Qin in 316 BC. The historical Bo people and the modern Tujia people trace some of their origins back to the people of ...

, the ancestors of the

Tujia people The Tujia ( Northern Tujia: ''Bifjixkhar'' / ''Bifzixkar'', IPA: , Southern Tujia: ''Mongrzzir'', ; ) are an ethnic group and, with a total population of over 8 million, the eighth-largest officially recognized ethnic minority in the People's ...

. The You River basin is one of the birthplaces of Chinese civilization: the Qin Dynasty Bamboo Slips of Liye and the

Tusi Sites The Tusi Sites () refer to the three ancient Tusi sites in China that were designated by the UNESCO as World Heritage Sites on July 3, 2015. It is the 48th World Heritage Site in China. These sites are located in the mountains of Southwest China an ...

Laosicheng Laosicheng () is an archaeological site in Sicheng Village () of Lingxi Town, Yongshun County, Hunan Province, China. It is one of the three Tusi Sites designated by the UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, On July 3, 2015. The site is the historic cap ...

and

Tangya The Tangya Tusi Fortress () is located in Tangya Town (), Xianfeng County, Hubei Province, China. It is one of the three Tusi Sites designated by the UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, On July 3, 2015.''China Scenic'' Hailongtun – the Demise of a T ...

were discovered in the region.

Headwaters

The You River has two headstreams, the north and south sources. The north source, the Beihe River () is the main stream; it originates in the Qizimei Mountains () in

Xuan'en County Xuan'en County () is a county of southwestern Hubei province, People's Republic of China, bordering Hunan province to the south. It is under the administration of the Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture. A remarkable topographic feature fo ...

of Hubei. The south source, commonly named Meijiang River () or Xiushan River () originates in Shanyangxi () of Songtao County, Guizhou. The Meijiang River merges into the main stream at Liangjiangkou () of Shiti Town () in

Xiushan County Xiushan Tujia and Miao Autonomous County (), or Xiushan County for short, is located in the southeast of Chongqing Municipality, China. It is the municipality's southernmost county-level division. * Area: * Population Population typically ...

of Chongqing. The upper section of the main stream of the You River is named the Baishui River (). It rises in the Qizimei Mountains () of Yangliuhzhai Village () in Chunmuying Township (), Xuan'en.解读酉水: se
sanwen8.cn
解读酉水 - 酉水源流 (《民族论坛》, 2003(5):4-5)
xueshu.baidu.com
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/ref>

References

{{coord, 28.4521, 110.3799, type:river_region:CN, format=dms, display=title Rivers of Hunan Rivers of Chongqing Rivers of Hubei