Yangtze River Facts

Yangtze river, the longest river in Asia and the 3th long river in the world, flows from the  highest peak (named "Geladaindong") of Danggula Mountains in Tibetan Highlands right across China into the East Chinese sea. It is 6,397 kilometers long and covers 1,808,500 square kilometers land. Yangtze River is called "Mother River" by Chinese as Yellow River does.

Why called "Yangtze River"
Chinese usually call "Changjiang River"(??) instead of "Yangtze River". Different reach of Changjiang River always has different name. "Yangtze River"(???) is actually the name of one reach of Changjiang River which is from Yangzhou city to East Chinese sea. In ancient China, there was a town named "Yangtze" located in the south of Yangzhou city and north of Yangtze River(???). The ferry on the town brings booming development of economy, it leads to the well-known of Yangtzw River. Till the last years of Qing Dynasty, lots of missionaries from west came to China, their ships to Shanghai usually started from Wusong ferry and passed Yangtze River firstly. So Missionaries called Changjiang using the name "Yangtze River", and before long "Yangtze River" became the official name of Changjiang in western courntries.

Rich Culture and History
The Yangtze River takes an important part in chinese history. Traces of human activity in the area can be found as far as 2 million years ago. In the Spring and Autumn Period of China, Ba and Shu tribes lived in the western part of the river, what are now the provinces of Sichuan, Chongqing, and western Hubei.

Bashu Culture is a branch of the Chinese culture and represented by Shu culture of the Sichuan region and Ba culture of Chongqing  area in Sichuan Basin. Bashu culture took shape over thousands of years ago, dating back to the late Neolithic Age. Mount Min is one of the headstreams of BaShu culture. Originates from Mount Min, the Min River is called "Sources of the river" from ancient China, it is also the place where Bashu culture first rose. Nowadays, there are many famous tourist attractions such as Jiuzhaigou, Huanglong, Wolong National Natural Reserve (Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries) etc.

Jing-chu culture gained its name from Chu state and Chu people. It was a local culture that rose in Han River region from Zhou dynasty (1066BC~256BC) to Spring and Autumn Period (770BC~476BC). In fact, "Chu" is the name of a bush which is also called "Jing" growed in the forest of mountains along Han River. This kind of bush was widely used in the life of local people, so since Zhou Dynasty, north ancient Chinese called the peope in the south of Han River with the words "Jingchu". The tribe of Jingchu assimilated the culture of Zhou Dynasty while againsted Zhou, this resulted in Jingchu's prosperous development. Finally, Jingchu submited to Zhou Dynasty, and got supports from the empire Zhou to built their state which vassaled to Zhou Dynasty.

All this Bashu and Jingchu culture traces will leads your travel of Yangtze River combines Bashu  and Jingchu culture, and finally brings your journey fabulous experience.

Attractions of Yangtze River
The Three Gorges are the most famous attractions of Yangtze River. The attraction starts from Baidicheng in Sichuan province and ends in Nanjin of Yichang city in Hubei province. This attractions consists of Qutang Gorge, Wu Gorge and Xiling Gorge, it is the most bravo sightseeings in Yangtze River.

All in all, all the sentences and words can't not perfectly describe Yangtze River's beauty, culture and history, you need to understand them by your own trip to Yangtze River.

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