The Yangtze River Explained

The Yangtze is the longest river in China. It flows east to the East China Sea.

Its true source is Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains. That source sits 5,170 meters above sea level.

It flows eastward to the sea.

The river travels 6,236 kilometers. Its drainage basin covers one-fifth of China's land area.

For thousands of years people used it for transport and war. The Yangtze Delta generates as much as 20% of China's GDP.

The Three Gorges Dam is the largest hydro-electric power station in the world. It sits on the Yangtze River.

The river hosts the Chinese alligator and the narrow-ridged finless porpoise.

Europeans applied a local name from Yangzhou to the entire river.