yangtze river cruise
Why not go on river cruise of great Chinese river. The Yangtze River is great river for people to have a cruise on. It has great scenic views and a great culture with great history to view and see.
The Yangtze River or Chang Jiang is the longest river in Asia and the third longest in the world, after the Amazon in South America, and the Nile in Africa. The river is about 6,300 km long and flows from its source in Qinghai Province, eastwards into the East China Sea at Shanghai. It has traditionally been considered a dividing line between North and South China, although geographers consider the Qinling-Huai River line to be the official line of geographical division. As the largest river in the region, the Yangtze is historically, culturally, and economically important to China.
The Yangtze flows into the East China Sea and was navigable by ocean-going vessels up to a thousand miles from its mouth even before the Three Gorges Dam was built. As of June 2003, this dam spans the river, flooding Fengjie, the first of a number of towns affected by the massive flood control and power generation project. This is the largest comprehensive irrigation project in the world, and has a significant impact on the China's agriculture. Its proponents argue that it will free people living along the river from floods that have repeatedly threatened them in the past, and will offer them electricity and water transport -- though at the expense of permanently flooding many existing towns (including numerous ancient cultural relics) and causing large-scale changes in the local ecology.
The river originates in a glacier lying on the west of Geladandong mountain in the Dangla Mountain Range on the eastern part of the Tibetan plateau. It runs through the eastern part of Qinghai, turning southward down a deep valley at the border of Sichuan and Tibet to reach Yunnan. In the course of this valley, the river's elevation drops from above 5000 m to less than 1000 m.
It enters the basin of Sichuan at Yibin. While in the Sichuan basin it receives several mighty tributaries, increasing its water volume significantly. It then cuts through Mount Wushan bordering Chongqing and Hubei to create the famous Three Gorges. Eastward of the Three Gorges, Yichang is the first city on the Yangtze Plain.
After entering Hubei, the Yangtze receives more water from thousands of lakes. The largest of these lakes is Dongting Lake, which is located on the border of Hunan and Hubei provinces, and is the outlet for most of the rivers in Hunan. At Wuhan it receives its biggest tributary, the Han River, bringing water from its northern basin as far as Shaanxi.
Major
cities along the river
Panzhihua, Yibin, Luzhou, Chongqing, Yichang,
Jingzhou, Shashi, Shishou, Yueyang, Xianning, Wuhan, Ezhou, Huangshi, Huanggang,
Chaohu, Chizhou, Jiujiang, Anqing, Tongling, Wuhu, Hefei, Chuzhou, Maanshan, Taizhou,
Yangzhou, Zhenjiang, Nanjing, Nantong, Shanghai, Fengdu. Many of these cities
can be viewed on the cruises.
Like many rivers, the river is known by different names over its course. At its source it is called in Chinese the Dangqu. Downstream it is called the Tuotuo River and then the Tongtian River . Where it runs through deep gorges parallel to the Mekong and the Salween before emerging onto the plains of Sichuan, it is known as the Jinsha River.
The Three Gorges region is a scenic area along the Yangtze River in the People's Republic of China with a total length of approximately 200 km. The Three Gorges occupy approximately 120 km within this region. Although it is primarily famous for its scenery, the Three Gorges region is historically and culturally an important region in China. A representation of the westernmost gorge appears on China's currency, the back of the paper 10 yuan note.
Find a Villa from Across Europe
Grand World Villas - Find a Villa from anywhere in the world
Grand Global Villas - Find Villas from Around the Globe
An Index with links to almost all our sites.
Holiday
to - Great places to go on Holiday to
Holiday
to 2 - More Great places to go on Holiday to
Holiday to 3 - More places to go on Holiday to
Holiday
to 4 - More places to go on Holiday to
Find some Cottages in Britain or Ireland and the world
A site stating what have been the world's largest empires ever
Find a Cottage in Britain or Ireland
Find more Cottages in Britain, Ireland, North America or the world
Banks - A page on Financial Affairs
The
History Lounge - A place with
100s of Historical articles.