The Yalong River ( zh, 雅砻江, p ''Yǎlóngjiāng'', w ''Ya-lung Chiang'',

IPA IPA commonly refers to: * India pale ale, a style of beer * International Phonetic Alphabet, a system of phonetic notation * Isopropyl alcohol, a chemical compound IPA may also refer to: Organizations International * Insolvency Practitioners A ...

), or Nyag Chu (

Tibetan Tibetan may mean: * of, from, or related to Tibet * Tibetan people, an ethnic group * Tibetan language: ** Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard ** Standard Tibetan, the most widely used spoken diale ...

: , z ''Nyag Qu''), is a major tributary river of the

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...

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 ...

. With a length of , the Yalong River flows from north to south through the Hengduan Mountains in western Sichuan Province.

Course

The Yalong has its source in the

Bayan Har Mountains The Bayan Har Mountains, formerly known as the Bayen-káras or Bayan-Kara-Ula, are a mountain range in Qinghai Province, northwest China. The name is Mongolian for "Rich and Black". It can be viewed as one of the branches of the Kunlun Mountain ...

on the Tibet–Qinghai Plateau in

Chindu County Chindu County () or Chenduo County () is a county of Qinghai Province, China, bordering Sichuan to the east. It is under the administration of Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. Administrative divisions Chindu County (Chenduo County) is divided ...

, Yushu,

Qinghai Qinghai (; alternately romanized as Tsinghai, Ch'inghai), also known as Kokonor, is a landlocked province in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. It is the fourth largest province of China by area and has the third smallest po ...

, where it is known as the Za Qu ( zh, 扎曲). Flowing southeasterly, the Yalong gradually turns south at Garzê and travels between the Shaluli Mountains to the west and the Daxue Mountains to the east. The Yalong River channel runs through a deep gorge for much of its length south of Garzê. The southern Sichuan-Tibet Highway crosses the Yalong at Yajiang in the middle of the river's course. In Liangshan Prefecture, the river wraps around the Jinping Mountains creating the Jinping Bend. Here, water from the Yalong River has been diverted under the mountains as part of the Jinping-II Dam

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 an ...

project. The Yalong meets the main stem of the Yangtze (Jinsha) River in

Panzhihua Panzhihua (), formerly Dukou (), is a prefecture-level city located in the far south of Sichuan province, People's Republic of China, at the confluence of the Jinsha and Yalong Rivers. It has an administrative area of , and a population at the 2 ...

, Sichuan.

History

The upper reaches of the Yalong have traditionally been inhabited by the Tibetan nomads of the historic region of

Kham Kham (; ) is one of the three traditional Tibetan regions, the others being Amdo in the northeast, and Ü-Tsang in central Tibet. The original residents of Kham are called Khampas (), and were governed locally by chieftains and monasteries. Kham ...

. The lower course of the Yalong is deeply incised and is not conducive to human habitation. The lower course of the Yalong was historically the western limit of Chinese influence in region.

Dams

Since the 1980s, the Yalong has been heavily developed for

power. A total of 23 dams are completed, under construction, or planned for the river. Those dams are listed below from downstream to upstream. * Tongzilin Dam – Under construction, 600 MW * Ertan Dam – Completed, 3,300 MW * Guandi Dam – Completed, 2,400 MW * Jinping 2 Dam – Completed, 4,800 MW * Jinping 1 Dam – Completed, 3,600 MW * Kala Dam – Programmed, 1,060 MW * Yangfanggou Dam – Programmed, 2,200 MW * Mengdigou Dam – Programmed, 1,700 MW * Lenggu Dam – Planned, 2,300 MW * Yagen Dam – Programmed, 1,500 MW * Lianghekou Dam – Completed, 3,000 MW * Gongbagou Dam – Planned, 500 MW * Gongke Dam – Planned, 400 MW * Xinlong Dam – Planned, 500 MW * Yingda Dam – Planned, 500 MW * Tongha Dam – Planned, 200 MW * Geni Dam – Planned, 200 MW * Ada Dam – Planned, 250 MW * Reba Dam – Planned, 250 MW * Renqingling Dam – Planned, 300 MW * Wenbosi Dam – Planned, 150 MW * Danikanduo Dam – Planned, 7.2 MW * Yangri Dam – Planned, 1 MW

References

External links

* {{Authority control Rivers of Sichuan Tributaries of the Yangtze River