the huang he or yellow river makes a large loop in its central norther course around which feature

by Timmothy Miller 3 min read

Turning north into the dry Gobi desert it irrigates the ancient city of Yinchuan, Ningxia before taking a large loop around Shaanxi province picking up its heavy load of loess silt along the way. Here the river has eroded a deep channel through the hundreds of feet of loose earth.

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Why is the Huang He river called the Yellow River?

Sep 09, 2020 · Huang He Valley (or in English, Yellow River Valley) was the birthplace of ancient Chinese civilization, and for that reason is often called “Mother River.”. The valley surrounds the principal river of northern China and is at the center of thousands of years of Chinese history. At over 5,400 kilometers (3,300 miles) long, the Huang He is ...

What is Huang He valley known for?

Jul 20, 2021 · Yellow River Geography. The Yellow River’s basin area is 752,443 km 2 (290,520 mi 2 ), containing about 200,000 km 2 (77,000 mi 2) of arable land and over 100 million people. The average flow rate of the Yellow River is 1,800 cubic meters per second. Its biggest tributary is the Wei River, which flows past Xi'an.

What are the characteristics of the Huang He River?

The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: 黃河, Mandarin: Huáng hé [xwǎŋ xɤ̌] ()) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the sixth-longest river system in the world at the estimated length of 5,464 km (3,395 mi). Originating in the Bayan Har Mountains in Qinghai province of Western China, it flows through nine provinces, and it empties into the Bohai Sea …

Why is Huang He valley called the Mother River?

Yellow River, Chinese (Pinyin) Huang He or (Wade-Giles romanization) Huang Ho, also spelled Hwang Ho, English Yellow River, principal river of northern China, east-central and eastern Asia. The Yellow River is often called the cradle of Chinese civilization. With a length of 3,395 miles (5,464 km), it is the country’s second longest river—surpassed only by the Yangtze River (Chang …

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Jun 04, 2020 · The river is called the Yellow River, named for the color of the silts that are carried downstream in its flow. The earliest civilization in China settled on the banks of the Huang He. The river has flooded so often that is has become known as …

How could the Chinese have solved the problem of the Huang river flooding?

Throughout most of its history, China has attempted to control the Huang He by building overflow channels and increasingly taller dikes, and in 1955 the Chinese embarked on an ambitious 50-year construction plan and flood-control program.Mar 21, 2022

What causes the Huang He Yellow River to flood and cause the river to have a yellowish color?

It is called the Yellow River because its waters carry silt, which give the river its yellow-brown color, and when the river overflows, it leaves a yellow residue behind. While the river helps create fertile land that is suited for farming, during certain times of the year the Huang He frequently overflows.Sep 9, 2020

Where does the Yellow River flow through?

Originating in the Bayankala Mountains, the Yellow River now passes nine provinces, namely Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan and Shandong. The mouth of the Yellow River is located at Dongying, Shandong.

What is the course of the Yellow River?

Major cities along the present course of the Yellow River include (from west to east) Lanzhou, Yinchuan, Wuhai, Baotou, Luoyang, Zhengzhou, Kaifeng, and Jinan. The current mouth of the Yellow River is located at Kenli County, Shandong. The river is commonly divided into three stages.

What causes the Yellow River to flood?

They occur when spring rains fall. They occur when snow and ice melt, and they occur when ice melts too slowly, blocking the flow of a river. The latter was in the case on China's Yellow (Huang) River in March 2008.Mar 24, 2008

What is flood Short answer?

Overview. Floods are the most frequent type of natural disaster and occur when an overflow of water submerges land that is usually dry. Floods are often caused by heavy rainfall, rapid snowmelt or a storm surge from a tropical cyclone or tsunami in coastal areas.

Where is the Huang He river?

ChinaYellow River (Huang He), eastern Qinghai province, China. Past the gorges, near the city of Lanzhou in southeastern Gansu province, it leaves the Plateau of Tibet.

Where is the Yellow River basin?

The Yellow River Basin is located between Qinghai and Shandong provinces, with a characteristic broad serpentine shape, taking it as far north as Inner Mongolia and as far south as Sichuan.Jan 5, 2022

What makes the Yellow River in Iceland yellow?

This color formation is caused by volcanic ash and lava flows.

What is the mouth of the Yellow River?

Bohai SeaYellow River / MouthThe Bohai Sea is a marginal sea approximately 77,000 km² in area on the east coast of Mainland China. It is the northwestern and innermost extension of the Yellow Sea, to which it connects to the east via the Bohai Strait. Wikipedia

How did the Yellow River change course?

The lower Yellow River has changed course radically throughout its geologic history. The river's decreased gradient and velocity on the plain cause its suspended load of silt to settle. As the riverbed builds up, the stream shifts course to occupy a lower level.

What is the Yellow River known for?

About the Yellow River The Yellow River is also known as the "cradle of Chinese civilization" or the "Mother River." Usually a source of rich fertile soil and irrigation water, the Yellow River has transformed itself more than 1,500 times in recorded history into a raging torrent that has swept away entire villages.Jul 28, 2019

Where The Name "Yellow River" Came from

The name "Yellow River" comes from the huge amounts of "yellow" loess sediment it carries when flowing through the Loess Plateau. It is the world's...

Yellow River Civilization — China's Cradle

Almost all Chinese agree that the Yellow River Basin was the cradle of Chinese Civilization. A great amount of archeological information proves tha...

What to See Along The Yellow River

Along the Yellow River, there are numerous historic and ancient attractions, and stunning scenery. Top attractions of the Yellow River include fore...

The Importance of The Yellow River

The Yellow River is the most important water resource for the dry north of China, playing an irreplaceable role in economic development, and agricu...

New Yellow River Troubles

With global warming, decrease in rainfall in the Yellow River Basin, and increasing water demands for irrigation, industry, etc., the Yellow River...

Visit Tourist Cities on The Yellow River With China Highlights

Along the Yellow River, there are many worthwhile attractions and many tourist cities, such as Lanzhou, Zhongwei, Yinchuan, Baotou, Yan'an, Luoyang...

What is the average flow rate of the Yellow River?

The average flow rate of the Yellow River is 1,800 cubic meters per second. Its biggest tributary is the Wei River which flows past Xi'an. The upper reaches, about 3,500 km (2,000 mi), includes the upland swamps and pastures of the Tibetan Plateau and gorges in foothill country to the Gobi Desert in Inner Mongolia.

What is the Yellow River Basin?

Almost all Chinese agree that the Yellow River Basin was the cradle of Chinese Civilization. A great amount of archeological information proves that the Yellow River was the most prosperous region in early Chinese history (2100–1046 BC). The Yellow River is not just a river of China, but also the symbol of the Chinese spirit: bearing burdens ...

How many times did the Yellow River flood?

Between 608 BC and 1938 AD, the Yellow River changed course 26 times, and flooded over 1,500 times .

What is the government doing to deal with the Yellow River?

The government is taking measures to deal with Yellow River pollution, such as setting limits on the volume of major pollutants discharged into rivers and lakes, and controlling overuse of water resources.

Why is the Yellow River important?

The Yellow River is the most important water resource for the dry north of China, playing an irreplaceable role in economic development, and agriculture. Since 1960 over 14 dams have been constructed on the river for hydroelectric power, which is vital to northern China's infrastructure.

Where to visit on the Yellow River?

Visit Tourist Cities on the Yellow River with China Highlights. The Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang. Along the Yellow River, there are many worthwhile attractions and many tourist cities, such as Lanzhou, Zhongwei, Yinchuan, Baotou, Yan'an, Luoyang, Zhengzhou, and Kaifeng.

When did the Yellow River dry up?

The Yellow River Has Dried Up Annually Since 1972. With global warming, decrease in rainfall in the Yellow River Basin, and increasing water demands for irrigation, industry, etc., the Yellow River has been used up by its lower reaches since 1972, when it ran dry for the first time in recorded history.

What is the Yellow River?

The Yellow River is one of several rivers that are essential for China's existence. At the same time, however, it has been responsible for several deadly floods, including the only natural disasters in recorded history to have killed more than a million people.

Why did Kua Fu drained the Yellow River?

In Chinese mythology, the giant Kua Fu drained the Yellow River and the Wei River to quench his burning thirst as he pursued the Sun. Historical documents from the Spring and Autumn period and Qin dynasty indicate that the Yellow River at that time flowed considerably north of its present course. These accounts show that after the river passed Luoyang, it flowed along the border between Shanxi and Henan Provinces, then continued along the border between Hebei and Shandong before emptying into Bohai Bay near present-day Tianjin. Another outlet followed essentially the present course.

What is the length of the Hetao Plain?

The flow is slow. The Hetao Plain has a length of 900 km (560 mi) and width of 30 to 50 km (19 to 31 mi). It is historically the most important irrigation plain along the Yellow River.

What river did the Yellow River avulsion cause?

The resulting major river avulsion allowed the Yellow to capture tributaries of the Huai River. For the first time in recorded history, the Yellow River shifted completely south of Shandong Peninsula and flowed into the Yellow Sea. By 1194, the mouth of the Huai had been blocked.

What was the significance of the Hangu Pass?

From around the beginning of the 3rd century, the importance of the Hangu Pass was reduced , with the major fortifications and military bases moved upriver to Tongguan. In AD 923, the desperate Later Liang general Duan Ning again broke the dikes, flooding 1,000 square miles (2,600 km 2) in a failed attempt to protect his realm's capital from the Later Tang. A similar proposal from the Song engineer Li Chun concerning flooding the lower reaches of the river to protect the central plains from the Khitai was overruled in 1020: the Chanyuan Treaty between the two states had expressly forbidden the Song from establishing new moats or changing river courses.

Why is the Yellow River unusable?

On 25 November 2008, Tania Branigan of The Guardian filed a report "China's Mother River: the Yellow River", claiming that severe pollution has made one-third of China's Yellow River unusable even for agricultural or industrial use, due to factory discharges and sewage from fast-expanding cities . The Yellow River Conservancy Commission had surveyed more than 8,384 mi (13,493 km) of the river in 2007 and said 33.8% of the river system registered worse than "level five" according to the criteria used by the UN Environment Program. Level five is unfit for drinking, aquaculture, industrial use, or even agriculture. The report said waste and sewage discharged into the system last year totaled 4.29b tons. Industry and manufacturing made up 70% of the discharge into the river with households accounting for 23% and just over 6% coming from other sources.

How big is the Yellow River basin?

The Yellow River basin has an east–west extent of about 1,900 kilometers (1,180 mi) and a north–south extent of about 1,100 km (680 mi). Its total drainage area is about 795,000 square kilometers (307,000 sq mi).

What is the Yellow River?

The Yellow River is often called the cradle of Chinese civilization. With a length of 3,395 miles (5,464 km), it is the country’s second longest river—surpassed only by the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang)—and its drainage basin is the third largest in China, with an area of some 290,000 square miles (750,000 square km).

How long is the Yellow River?

The middle course of the Yellow River, extending more than 1,800 miles (2,900 km), consists of a great loop and drains an area of about 23,000 square miles (60,000 square km). The river at first flows northeast for about 550 miles (880 km) through the sandy soils of the northern Hui Autonomous Region of Ningxia and of the western Ordos Plateau. It has many rapids there, and in a number of places it narrows. The river then turns eastward and flows for another 500 miles (800 km) through alluvial plains in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, in places branching into numerous distributary channels. In that stretch its fall is less than half a foot per mile (9 cm per km), and many of the channels have been developed over the millennia for irrigated agriculture.

What is the meaning of the Chinese word "huang"?

The Mandarin Chinese word huang (“yellow”) is a reference to the fine loess sediments that the river carries to the sea.

What river flows through the Bo Hai?

The Yellow River (Hu ang He) basin and the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) basin and their drainage networks. The river rises in southern Qinghai province on the Plateau of Tibet and crosses six other provinces and two autonomous regions in its course to the Bo Hai (Gulf of Chihli), an embayment of the Yellow Sea of the North Pacific Ocean.

Where does the Yellow River originate?

The Yellow River originates at an elevation above 15,000 feet (4,600 metres) in the Bayan Har Mountains, in the eastern Plateau of Tibet. In its upper reaches the river crosses two large bodies of water, Lakes Ngoring and Gyaring. Those shallow lakes, each covering an area of about 400 square miles (1,000 square km), are rich in fish and freeze over in winter. The Yellow River in that region flows generally from west to east. The broad highlands of the upper course rise 1,000 to 1,700 feet (300 to 500 metres) above the river and its tributaries. The highlands consist of crystalline rocks that are sometimes visible as eroded outcroppings on the surface. The river enters a region of deep gorges, winding its way first southeast, then northwest around the A’nyêmaqên (Amne Machin) Mountains, where its fall exceeds 10 feet per mile (2 metres per km), and then east again between the Xiqing and Laji mountains.

How many miles is the Yellow River?

That transition marks the end of the upper Yellow River, which is some 725 miles (1,165 km) from its source. The upper course drains a basin covering about 48,000 square miles (124,000 square km), consisting chiefly of inaccessible, highly mountainous, sparsely populated terrain with a cold climate.

Which river flows past China's oldest cities?

The Yellow River basin has an enormous population—exceeded by only a small number of countries—and the river and its tributaries flow past some of China’s oldest cities, including Lanzhou, Baotou, Xi’an (Sian), Taiyuan, Luoyang, Zhengzhou, Kaifeng, and Jinan. Yellow River (Huang He)

Which river joins the Huang He?

In this section the Fen River and the Wei River, the most important tributary, join the Huang He. The river then turns sharply east. The lower basin, beginning in northern Henan province, encompasses the great North China Plain, which extends to the sea, interrupted only by the hills of Shandong province.

How long is the Huang He?

One of the world’s longest rivers, the Huang He is 3,395 miles (5,464 kilometers) long. It drains an area of some 290,000 square miles (750,000 square kilometers).

What are the flood control programs on the Huang He?

Modern flood-control programs on the river include not only improved levees but also dams and projects to reduce erosion on the Loess Plateau—and thus the amount of silt the river picks up. The high silt load of the Huang He has also limited the utility of the water for navigation, power generation, urban consumption, and industry.

What does Huang He mean?

Huang He means “Yellow River. ”. The river gets its color and its name from the extremely high volume of yellow-brown windblown silt, or loess, that enters the river in its middle reaches as it cuts through the Loess Plateau. The high silt load makes the lower reaches of the river prone to disastrous flooding.

What is the name of the river that flows eastward into the Yellow Sea?

Huang He (Yellow River) Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. © CCTV America. The main river of northern China, the Huang He (or Hwang Ho) is the second longest river in the country, after the Yangtze. It rises on the Plateau of Tibet and flows generally eastward, emptying into the Yellow Sea. Chinese historians routinely refer to the Huang He as ...

What is a levee in a river?

Levees are mounds or ridges built along the edges of a river to prevent flooding. Unfortunately, on the Huang He the long-term effect is only to delay flooding. By constraining the channel, over time the levees cause silt deposits to raise the riverbed more and more.

How many times did the Yellow River change course?

Beyond Kaifeng the river was too difficult to tame, the channel to the sea changed frequently over the centuries, in all 26 times in 3,000 years, most recently in 1853. In the Western Han dynasty it changed course twice in only six years. The god of the Yellow River was called He Bo 河 伯 .

Where is the Yellow River located?

The Yellow River ( 黄 河 Huáng Hé ) Hwang Ho WG) is at the heart of China , both historically and geographically. It is the second longest river in China after the Yangzi 3,400 miles [5,472 kms]. Rising in western Qinghai province close to the source of the Yangzi at 13,000 feet [3,962 meters] it heads over the mountains to Lanzhou, Gansu the ancient gateway city of China. Turning north into the dry Gobi desert it irrigates the ancient city of Yinchuan, Ningxia before taking a large loop around Shaanxi province picking up its heavy load of loess silt along the way. Here the river has eroded a deep channel through the hundreds of feet of loose earth. It then turns north-east between Shanxi and Henan to reach the sea in northern Shandong.

What was the Pujin bridge made of?

Chinese iron technology was far ahead of that of the west. The Pujin bridge took the form of wooden planks affixed to giant iron chains over the river. The chains were anchored securely in huge iron oxen sculptures on the banks.

What is the Chinese name for the Emperor's robe?

The Chinese character for yellow is 黄 huáng based on a picture of a precious object - a Jade pendant. Yellow or perhaps a better translation ‘golden’ has been the color of Emperor 's robes since the Tang dynasty and the name of the legendary Yellow Emperor ( 黄 帝 huáng dì) the founder of China.

What is the most famous piece of Chinese music?

One of the most famous pieces of Chinese music written in the western classical style is the Yellow River Piano Concerto ➚ 黄 河 协奏曲 huáng hé xié zòu qǔ premiered in 1969 and promoted by Jiang Qing. It has revolutionary and nationalist themes set in four movements.

What was the cradle of the Chinese civilization?

Like the lower Nile where the regular deposition of rich alluvial silts gave birth to the Egyptian Civilization, the Yellow River valley was the cradle for the creation of Chinese civilization.

How many people died in the Yellow River flood?

This event was an historical echo of the flood in 1642 ➚ when the governor of Kaifeng broke the banks of the Yellow River to break the siege of rebel leader Li Zicheng causing about 300,000 deaths. Other nicknames include the ‘Ungovernable’ and ‘Scourge of the sons of Han ’.

Where is Huang He located?

The section of the Huang He between Hekou, Inner Mongolia and Zhengzhou, Henan Province constitutes the middle reaches of the river which is about 1,200 km in length, with a basin area of 344,000 sqkm, or about 45 per cent of the total, with a total elevation drop of 890 m, and an average gradient of 0.07 per cent. Between the two above-named cities, the river meanders through a series of valleys collectively termed the Jinshan Valley. Numerous hydroelectric generating plants are located along this stretch of river to take advantage of the swift-flowing waters and the narrow gorges.

What is the name of the river that flows through China?

The Huang He is the second longest river in China. It meanders over a course of about 5,500 km and drains an area of about 900,000 sqkm. It flows through seven Provinces and two Autonomous Regions of China. As one of the most heavily silt-laden rivers in the world, the river derives its name, Yellow River, from the muddy-colour of its water, ...