Yangtze River facts for kids

The first turn of the Yangtze at Shigu (石鼓), Yunnan Province, where the river turns 180 degrees from south- to north-bound.

The Yangtze River, or Yangzi (Simple Chinese: 扬子江 / Traditional Chinese: 揚子江), or Chang Jiang (Simple Chinese: 长江 / Traditional Chinese: 長江), is the longest River in China and Asia, as well as the world's third longest river (after the Amazon and the Nile). It is honored as one of the two main cradles of Chinese civilization. (another is Yellow River)

The river is about 6,300 kilometers (almost 4,000 miles) long and goes from the western part of China (Qinghai Province) into the East China Sea, which is part of the Pacific Ocean. It has been thought of as a dividing point between northern and southern China. It helped start the Chinese civilization.

On the river is a big dam called the Three Gorges Dam, which is one of the biggest in the world. It forms a man-made lake that stretches almost 410 miles (660 km) upstream.

Top tourist attractions for the Yangtze river cruise are Chongqing Dazu Carvings, Three Gorges, lesser Three Gorges, Bai Di City, Fengdu Ghost City and so on.

The Yangtze River is also known as the Yangzi or Chang Jiange.

Images for kids

Golden Island, on The Yang-Tse River, China (LMS, 1869, p.64)
Yangtze watershed
Cruise on the Yangtze River before sunset
Afternoon light on the jagged grey mountains rising from the Yangtze River gorge
A map of the Warring States around 350 BC, showing the former coastline of the Yangtze delta.
USS Luzon
Cruise boats on Yangtze
A vehicle carrier on Yangtze
A container carrier on Yangtze
JN Izumo in Shanghai, 1937; she sank riverboats in 1941
Barges on the river.
Map of the Yangtze river locating the Three Gorges Dam
Satellite map showing the lake created by the Three Gorges Dam. Compare Nov. 7, 2006 (above) with April 17, 1987 (below)
The Three Gorges Dam in 2006
Diagram showing dams planned for the upper reaches of the Yangtze River
A shipyard on the banks of the Yangtze building commercial river freight boats
The two sturgeon species in the Yangtze (here Chinese sturgeon) are both seriously threatened
The silver carp is native to the river, but has (like other Asian carp) been spread through large parts of the world with aquaculture
The Chinese mitten crab is a commercially important species in the Yangtze, but invasive in other parts of the world.
The glaciers of the Tanggula Mountains, the source of the Yangtze River
The Tuotuo River, a headwater stream of the Yangtze River, known in Tibetan as Maqu, or the "Red River"
The Jinsha River in Yunnan
The Tiger Leaping Gorge near Lijiang downstream from Shigu
Qutang Gorge, one of the Three Gorges
Wu Gorge, one of the Three Gorges
Xiling Gorge, one of the Three Gorges
Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge, the first bridge crossing Yangtze, was completed in 1957.
The Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge, a beam bridge, was completed in 1968.
The Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge, an arch bridge, was completed in 1992.
The Yichang Yangtze Highway Bridge, a suspension bridge near the Gezhouba Dam lock, was completed in 1996.
The Sutong Yangtze River Bridge, between Nantong and Suzhou, was one of the longest cable-stayed bridges in the world when it was completed in 2008.
The Caiyuanba Bridge, an arch bridge in Chongqing, was completed in 2007.
The cable-stayed Anqing Yangtze River Bridge at Anqing, was completed in 2005.
Gan River in Jiangxi Province
Han River in Hubei Province
Lake Dongting and the Yuan, Zi, Li, and Xiang Rivers in Hunan Province
Wu River in Guizhou Province
Jialing River in eastern Sichuan Province and Chongqing Municipality
Min River in central Sichuan
Yalong River in western Sichuan