Wu River (Yangtze River)
Encyclopedia
Wu Jiang known also as Wu River, is the largest southern tributary
of the Yangtze River
. Nearly its entire length of 1150 kilometres (714.6 mi) runs within the mountainous and ethnically diverse region of Guizhou
.
-level municipality
of Chongqing
, past Wushan
, Badong
and Zigui
, and flows into the Yangtze River at Fuling, in the Three Gorges region, some 50 miles (80.5 km) east-northeast of Chongqing City. A segment of the lower course of the river is flooded by the reservoir of Three Gorges Dam
. Hydroelectric power stations have also been constructed along Wujiang and some of its major tributaries.
state in the Sichuan
area, which frequently conflicted with the neighboring state of Chu
. By the Qin Dynasty
, the Wujiang area had been brought under control of China.
Many of the small river towns along Wujiang, such as Gongtan, date back to as early as 200 A.D.
The Wu Gorge is also known as "Golden Helmet and Silver Armor Gorge". The name originates from a somewhat helmet-shaped rock formation above the river and a silver-covered cliff of slate
. Another name for Wu Gorge is "Iron Coffin Gorge".
The Wujiang has been extensively developed for hydroelectricity
, and is important as a regional power and water source. As of 2005, dams along the main stem had a capacity to generate 1,800 MW. Almost all of these dams were constructed and owned by the Wujiang Hydropower Corporation. This capacity is expected to rise to 8,500 MW by 2010. The largest dam, the 232 metres (761.2 ft) Goupitan Dam
, was completed in November 2004 and is expected to start operation in 2009. Many of the dams on the Wujiang also serve to divert water eastwards for irrigation
purposes.
Wujiang and many other tributaries of the Yangtze are heavily polluted, especially in their lower course, because of poor sewage systems and dumping of agricultural waste. The lower river is now suitable only for navigation, and cannot even be used for irrigation.
spreads over 80300 square kilometre in south-central China. The watershed has always been very isolated and cut off from much of the rest of the region because of the topography. By the 1950s, the lower 480 kilometres (298.3 mi) of the river were dredged of sediment and hundreds of sets of rapids were blasted. (Navigation on the upper river still reflects how it was on the Yangtze in the Three Gorges region before Three Gorges Dam was constructed.) With the creation of Three Gorges Dam's reservoir, navigation on Wujiang has increased significantly. Districts of Guizhou that the Wujiang flows through include Liupanshui
, Anshun
, Guiyang
(the capital), Qiannan, and Zunyi
. All of the nine districts in Guizhou at least drain partially to Wujiang.
About 40 kilometres (24.9 mi) of the river's lower course forms an arm of the Wu Gorge
(Big Gorge or Second Gorge) of the Three Gorges, now submerged in up to 30 metres (98.4 ft) of water from Three Gorges Reservoir. In late 2008, geological instabilities caused landslides with volumes of 20000 and 50000 m³ (26,159 and 65,397.5 yd3). It is speculated that the former slide is part of a larger unstable slope with as much as 100000 cubic metres (130,795.1 cu yd). The latter slide caused a wave that swamped boats up to 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) away.
Tributary
A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...
of the Yangtze River
Yangtze River
The Yangtze, Yangzi or Cháng Jiāng is the longest river in Asia, and the third-longest in the world. It flows for from the glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau in Qinghai eastward across southwest, central and eastern China before emptying into the East China Sea at Shanghai. It is also one of the...
. Nearly its entire length of 1150 kilometres (714.6 mi) runs within the mountainous and ethnically diverse region of Guizhou
Guizhou
' is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the southwestern part of the country. Its provincial capital city is Guiyang.- History :...
.
Course
The river begins as the Sancha in western Guizhou and flows eastwards about 350 kilometres (217.5 mi). It then bends north, west and south in an arc for about 300 kilometres (186.4 mi) called the Yachi, and merges with the Nanmingjiang from the right. After the Yachi, Wujiang makes a broad arc northeast through central Guizhou, picking up fifteen major tributaries including Yujiang from the east, Furongjiang from the south, and Yajiang from the southwest. It then crosses the border into the provincialProvince
A province is a territorial unit, almost always an administrative division, within a country or state.-Etymology:The English word "province" is attested since about 1330 and derives from the 13th-century Old French "province," which itself comes from the Latin word "provincia," which referred to...
-level municipality
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
of Chongqing
Chongqing
Chongqing is a major city in Southwest China and one of the five national central cities of China. Administratively, it is one of the PRC's four direct-controlled municipalities , and the only such municipality in inland China.The municipality was created on 14 March 1997, succeeding the...
, past Wushan
Wushan
Wushan may refer to the following locations in the People's Republic of China:*Wushan County, Chongqing *Wu Mountains, or Wushan , a mountainous region in Wushan County, Chongqing*Wushan County, Gansu , of Tianshui, Gansu...
, Badong
Badong
Badong County is a county located in the extreme west of central China's Hubei province, in Enshi Prefecture. The Yangtze River flows through the county and the county seat is located just east of the Wu Gorge in the Three Gorges region....
and Zigui
Zigui
Zigui County is a county in Yichang, in the central China province of Hubei. It encompasses the easternmost portion of the Yangtze River Gorges, including the Xiling Gorge ....
, and flows into the Yangtze River at Fuling, in the Three Gorges region, some 50 miles (80.5 km) east-northeast of Chongqing City. A segment of the lower course of the river is flooded by the reservoir of Three Gorges Dam
Three Gorges Dam
The Three Gorges Dam is a hydroelectric dam that spans the Yangtze River by the town of Sandouping, located in the Yiling District of Yichang, in Hubei province, China...
. Hydroelectric power stations have also been constructed along Wujiang and some of its major tributaries.
History
Fuling is regarded as the first town along Wujiang. The city was the capital of the ancient BaBa (state)
Ba was an ancient state in eastern Sichuan, China. Its original capital was Yicheng , Hubei. Ba was conquered by Qin in 316 BC. The modern ethnic minority Tujia people trace some of their origins back to the Ba people....
state in the Sichuan
Sichuan
' , known formerly in the West by its postal map spellings of Szechwan or Szechuan is a province in Southwest China with its capital in Chengdu...
area, which frequently conflicted with the neighboring state of Chu
Chu (state)
The State of Chu was a Zhou Dynasty vassal state in present-day central and southern China during the Spring and Autumn period and Warring States Period . Its ruling house had the surname Nai , and clan name Yan , later evolved to surname Mi , and clan name Xiong...
. By the Qin Dynasty
Qin Dynasty
The Qin Dynasty was the first imperial dynasty of China, lasting from 221 to 207 BC. The Qin state derived its name from its heartland of Qin, in modern-day Shaanxi. The strength of the Qin state was greatly increased by the legalist reforms of Shang Yang in the 4th century BC, during the Warring...
, the Wujiang area had been brought under control of China.
Many of the small river towns along Wujiang, such as Gongtan, date back to as early as 200 A.D.
The Wu Gorge is also known as "Golden Helmet and Silver Armor Gorge". The name originates from a somewhat helmet-shaped rock formation above the river and a silver-covered cliff of slate
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
. Another name for Wu Gorge is "Iron Coffin Gorge".
The Wujiang has been extensively developed for hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...
, and is important as a regional power and water source. As of 2005, dams along the main stem had a capacity to generate 1,800 MW. Almost all of these dams were constructed and owned by the Wujiang Hydropower Corporation. This capacity is expected to rise to 8,500 MW by 2010. The largest dam, the 232 metres (761.2 ft) Goupitan Dam
Goupitan Dam
The Goupitan Dam is an under construction concrete arch dam on the Wujiang River, a tributary of the Yangtze River in Guizhou Province, southwest of China. The dam's hydroelectric facility will operate on five turbines, each with a hydroelectric generating capacity of , for a total of ....
, was completed in November 2004 and is expected to start operation in 2009. Many of the dams on the Wujiang also serve to divert water eastwards for irrigation
Irrigation
Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...
purposes.
Wujiang and many other tributaries of the Yangtze are heavily polluted, especially in their lower course, because of poor sewage systems and dumping of agricultural waste. The lower river is now suitable only for navigation, and cannot even be used for irrigation.
Drainage and navigation
The Wujiang's drainage basinDrainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
spreads over 80300 square kilometre in south-central China. The watershed has always been very isolated and cut off from much of the rest of the region because of the topography. By the 1950s, the lower 480 kilometres (298.3 mi) of the river were dredged of sediment and hundreds of sets of rapids were blasted. (Navigation on the upper river still reflects how it was on the Yangtze in the Three Gorges region before Three Gorges Dam was constructed.) With the creation of Three Gorges Dam's reservoir, navigation on Wujiang has increased significantly. Districts of Guizhou that the Wujiang flows through include Liupanshui
Liupanshui
Liupanshui is a city whose urban area has 251,900 inhabitants in Western Guizhou province in the People's Republic of China. The population of its jurisdictional area has exceeded 2,830,000 as of 2006, and it is the second largest city in Guizhou...
, Anshun
Anshun
Anshun is a prefecture-level city in China in the southwestern province of Guizhou where the famous Huangguoshu Waterfall is located. Within the borders of its prefecture one also finds attractions such as Long Gong Dragon Caves and the Getu River. As of 1999, it had a population of 217,215...
, Guiyang
Guiyang
Guiyang is the capital of Guizhou province of Southwest China. It is located in the centre of the province, situated on the east of the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau, and on the north bank of the Nanming River, a branch of the Wu River. The city has an elevation of about 1,100 meters...
(the capital), Qiannan, and Zunyi
Zunyi
Zunyi is a prefecture-level city in Guizhou province in southwestern China. Along with Guiyang and Liupanshui, it is one of the most important cities of the province...
. All of the nine districts in Guizhou at least drain partially to Wujiang.
About 40 kilometres (24.9 mi) of the river's lower course forms an arm of the Wu Gorge
Wu Gorge
Wu Gorge , sometimes called Great Gorge , is the second gorge of the Three Gorges system on the Yangtze River, People's Republic of China. Formed by the Wu River, it stretches from Wushan to Guandukou, and is located downstream of Qutang Gorge and upstream of Xiling Gorge...
(Big Gorge or Second Gorge) of the Three Gorges, now submerged in up to 30 metres (98.4 ft) of water from Three Gorges Reservoir. In late 2008, geological instabilities caused landslides with volumes of 20000 and 50000 m³ (26,159 and 65,397.5 yd3). It is speculated that the former slide is part of a larger unstable slope with as much as 100000 cubic metres (130,795.1 cu yd). The latter slide caused a wave that swamped boats up to 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) away.