The Yuan River, also known by its
Chinese name
A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A persona ...
as the Yuanjiang, is one of the four largest
river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of ...
s in
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, Jiangx ...
province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions out ...
in southeast-central
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 ...
. It is a tributary of
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 ...
. It is long and rises in
Guizhou
Guizhou (; Postal romanization, formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in the Southwest China, southwest region of the China, People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Guiyang, in the center of the pr ...
province in the
Miao Mountains near
Duyun and is navigable. The upper stream is called the Longtou River, and downstream it is called the Qingshui or Ch‘ing-shui River. It becomes the Yuan River after its confluence with its northern tributary, the
Wu River.
After its merger with the Wu River, the Yuan flows in a northeasterly direction, hugging the western side of the
Xuefeng Mountains of Hunan. Ultimately, the Yuan flows into the
Dongting Lake
Dongting Lake () is a large, shallow lake in northeastern Hunan Province, China. It is a flood basin of the Yangtze River, so its volume depends on the season. The provinces of Hubei and Hunan are named after their location relative to the l ...
at
Changde
Changde ( ) is a prefecture-level city in the northwest of Hunan province, People's Republic of China. In addition to the urban districts, Changde also administers the county-level city of Jinshi and six counties. Changde is adjacent to Dongt ...
and from there into the Yangtze River. The Yuan serves as a major waterway for western Hunan and eastern Guizhou. The Yuan is navigable for large vessels up to Changde, whereas smaller boats can make it to
Taoyuan.
Gallery
See also
*
Other Yuan Jiangs and Yuanjiangs
References
External links
Rivers of Hunan
Tributaries of the Yangtze River
{{China-river-stub