A Yangtze Journey The Yangtze is Asia's longest river stretching for 3 915 miles 6 300 km Its Chinese name is Chang Jiang which means the Long River You will follow the river from its source on the Qinghai Tibet Plateau to where it drains into the East China Sea near Shanghai A Great River Chinese civilization began on the banks of the V The Yangtze flows through many different Yangtze For thousands of years Chinese people landscapes including have relied on the river for transport irrigating farmed hillsides crops and for food and water Today about half of mountains forests all the food in China is grown in the Yangtze basin fertile plains and wetlands including more than two thirds of the country's rice crop Almost 500 million people live and work along its
The Yangtze's Source Threats to the Yangtze In recent years the river has become polluted by factory and household waste Wildlife habitats have been destroyed and many types of fish that once lived in the river have disappeared The Chinese government is working to repair the damage and to protect endangered species Some sections of the river have now been made into nature reserves Finding the source of a river like the Yangtze is not easy because many other streams called tributaries flow into it People once thought that the Jinsha Jiang River was the source Then in 1976 a small lake was discovered at the foot of Mount Geladandong near the border with Tibet Most now agree that this lake is the Yangtze's source MONGOLIA ASIA AFRICA Ye Sea ANGSu PROVINCE ANHul Neighbouring countries Provinces adjoining the Yangtze River Zhenj CHINA PROVINC Mount Gela dandong HUB PROVINC Three Gorges dam and resenoir v because of pollution and other threats scientists fear that the Yangtze dolphin may have died out completely SICHUAN PROVINCE QINGHAI TIBET TA PLATEAU Chongoing Xiline Chouba JANGXI PROVINCI Leaping Gorge INDIA gu Lijiang UNNAN PROVINCE MYANMAR BURMA South ch in a Se a VIETNAM
