The Bailong River () is a river 576km long river in 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 flow ...

basin. From its source to confluence with the

Jialing River The Jialing River, formerly known by numerous other names, is a major tributary of the Yangtze River in the Sichuan Basin. It is named after the Jialing Valley in Feng County, Shaanxi through which it flows. The Jialing River's most notable ...

, the Bailong is actually longer and is thus the main stem of the Jialing River system. The scenic

Jiuzhaigou Jiuzhaigou (; ) is a nature reserve and national park located in the north of Sichuan Province in southwestern China. A long valley running north to south, Jiuzhaigou was inscribed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1992 and a World Biosphe ...

reserve is found along one of the Bailong's tributaries. Two reservoirs have been constructed in Wen County (

Bikou Dam The Bikou Dam is an embankment dam on the Bailong River just upstream of Bikou in Wen County, Gansu Province, China. Construction on the dam began in 1969, the generators were commissioned in 1976 and the dam was complete in 1977. The tall earth ...

). The reservoirs serve to provide hydroelectricity, aquaculture,

flood control Flood control methods are used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters."Flood Control", MSN Encarta, 2008 (see below: Further reading). Flood relief methods are used to reduce the effects of flood waters or high water level ...

, irrigation and for tourism development.

History

In August 2010, heavy rains triggered a

mudslide A mudflow or mud flow is a form of mass wasting involving fast-moving flow of debris that has become liquified by the addition of water. Such flows can move at speeds ranging from 3 meters/minute to 5 meters/second. Mudflows contain a signific ...

that dammed the river in

Zhugqu County Zhouqu County (; ) is a county in the eastern extremity of the Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in the south of Gansu Province, the People's Republic of China, with the Bailong River flowing through its confines; it borders Sichuan province ...

, Gansu, causing extensive damage and killing over a thousand people.

Course

The Bailong River, in name, rises in Gansu's Luqu County, just west of the town of

Langmusi Langmusi Town (; ) is a small alpine town on the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau, nestled in a valley shared between Gansu and Sichuan provinces in China and straddled by two large monastery complexes. Administratively, the town is part of ...

. The river drains the northern sections of the

Min Mountains Min Mountains or Minshan () are a mountain range in central China. It runs in the general north-south direction through northern Sichuan (the eastern part of the Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture and adjacent areas of Mianyang Prefect ...

and then flows through Zhugqu and

Longnan Longnan () is a prefecture-level city in the southeast of Gansu province in China. It borders Sichuan on its south and Shaanxi on its east. As of the 2020 Chinese census, the population of the prefecture-level city was 2,855,555. Geography an ...

before meeting the

Guangyuan Guangyuan () is a prefecture-level city in Sichuan Province, China, bordering the provinces of Shaanxi to the northeast and Gansu to the northwest. The city has a population of 2,305,657 as of the 2020 census. Located roughly between the provi ...

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 th ...

. The

main stem In hydrology, a mainstem (or trunk) is "the primary downstream segment of a river, as contrasted to its tributaries". Water enters the mainstem from the river's drainage basin, the land area through which the mainstem and its tributaries flow.. ...

of the river, however, is actually a tributary that has its source in the Min Mountains, north of

Songpan Songpan; former Songzhou, is a county of northwestern Sichuan province, China, and is one of the 13 counties administered by the Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture. It has an area of , and a population of approximately 68,000 composed o ...

History

Course

Notes

See also