The Pudu River () is a major river in

Yunnan Province Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the ...

in southwest China. The source of Pudu River is located in

Songming County Songming County () is a county under the jurisdiction of Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province, China. It is famous for the Yanglin Fat Liquor and the Dian Opera. Administrative divisions Songming County is divided into two subdistricts and thr ...

; the headwater stream is called Muyang River (). The river runs southwards through Kunming and then it is called the

Panlong River The Panlong River () in an urban river in Kunming City, Yunnan, China. It flows in the general north-to-south direction through the city's Panlong, Wuhua and Guandu Districts, and enters the Dian Lake at . The river receives a large quantity o ...

; it flows into

Dian Lake Dianchi Lake (), also known as Lake Dian and Kunming Lake (), is a large lake located on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau close to Kunming, Yunnan, China. Its nickname is the "Sparkling Pearl Embedded in a Highland" () and it was the model for the Ku ...

at the south of Kunming.

Geography

The river leaves

near Haikou Subdistrict (formerly, Haikou Town) ( 海口街道) of Xishan District, in the southwestern part of the lake. The outlet of the lake is called Tanglang Creek () or Tanglang River (). The river runs northward through

Anning City Anning () is a county-level city under the jurisdiction of Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province, China. It is located approximately 28 kilometers southwest of Kunming city proper. In 1995, Anning was upgraded to a county-level city from ...

and

Fumin County Fumin County () is a county, under the jurisdiction of Kunming, Yunnan, China. Administrative divisions Yongding Town and Daying Town, Luomian Yi Nationality and Miao Nationality Village, Sandan Village, Kuanzhuang Village, Dongcun Village and ...

; from there on, it is called Pudu River. It joins

Jinsha River The Jinsha River (, Tibetan: Dri Chu, འབྲི་ཆུ) is the Chinese name for the upper stretches of the Yangtze River. It flows through the provinces of Qinghai, Sichuan, and Yunnan in western China. The river passes through Tiger L ...

in the northeastern part of

Luquan Yi and Miao Autonomous County Luquan Yi and Miao Autonomous County (; A-Hmao: ) is an autonomous county, under the jurisdiction of Kunming, Yunnan, China, bordering Sichuan province to the north. As of the 2020 census the population was 378,881. The county seat has two bus s ...

. The river is about 363.6 kilometres long.

Name

The name Pudu (普渡) is a slogan from Buddhism Classics, literally "helping people get out of sorrows and troubles". Some people also believe that "Pudu" here actually refers to "a ferry ran by Pu's family". In Chinese, the name of the Pudu River is written with the same

Chinese characters Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are known as ''kanji ...

as the Chinese name of

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and mone ...

, but this is just a coincidence.

Notes

Tributaries of the Yangtze River Rivers of Yunnan Geography of Kunming {{China-river-stub