Rivers

A total of 8,000 km of waterways can be used for river transport purpose. At present, along the Jinsha River and the Lancang River, the length of intra-province waterways in operation approximates 1,500 km. Major ports include Guanlei, Shuifu, Suijiang, Jinghong, Simao, and Dali. In June 2001, commercial shipping service among China, Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand on the Lancang-Mekong River was officially inaugurated.

There are six main water connections in Yunnan:

Jinsha River (Yangtze River)

The Jinsha River (Chinese: 金沙江, p Jīnshājiāng, "Gold Dust River"[1]) is the Chinese name for the upper stretches of the Yangtze River. It flows through the provinces of Qinghai, Sichuan, and Yunnan in western China. The river passes through Tiger Leaping Gorge.

It is sometimes grouped together with the Lancang (upper Mekong) and Nu (upper Salween) as the Sanjiang ("Three Rivers") area,[2] part of which makes up the Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas.

Lancang River (Mekong River)

The Mekong is a trans-boundary river in Southeast Asia. It is the world's 12th-longest river[2] and the 7th-longest in Asia. Its estimated length is 4,350 km (2,703 mi),[2] and it drains an area of 795,000 km2 (307,000 sq mi), discharging 457 km3 (110 cu mi) of water annually.[3]

From the Tibetan Plateau this river runs through China's Yunnan province, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. In 1995, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam established the Mekong River Commission to assist in the management and coordinated use of the Mekong's resources. In 1996 China and Burma (Myanmar) became "dialogue partners" of the MRC and the six countries now work together within a cooperative framework.

The extreme seasonal variations in flow and the presence of rapids and waterfalls in this river have made navigation difficult. The river is a major trading route linking China’s southwestern province of Yunnan to Laos, Burma (Myanmar) and Thailand to the south, an important trade route between western China and Southeast Asia.

Nu River (Salween River)

The Salween (Burmese: သံလွင်မြစ်, IPA: [θàɴlwɪ̀ɴ mjɪʔ], also spelt Thanlwin; Mon: သာန်လာန်, [san lon]; Tibetan: རྒྱལ་མོ་རྔུལ་ཆུ།, Wylie: rGyl mo rNGul chu, Gyalmo Ngulchu; Chinese: 怒江; pinyin: Nù Jiāng, literally "Angry River" in Chinese —the river is actually named after the Nu people living in the area, but Chinese having no phonetic script had to use a character with a similar sound as Nu which happens to be the character for rage;[2] Shan and Thai IPA: [mɛ̂ː náːm sǎːla.win], Mae Nam Salawin (Thai: แม่น้ำสาละวิน); is a river, about 2,815 kilometres (1,749 mi) long, that flows from the Tibetan Plateau into the Andaman Sea in Southeast Asia. It drains a narrow and mountainous watershed of 324,000 square kilometres (125,000 sq mi) that extends into the countries of China, Burma and Thailand. Steep canyon walls line the swift, powerful and undammed Salween, one of the longest free-flowing rivers in the world.[3][4] Its extensive drainage basin supports a biodiversity comparable with the Mekong and is home to about 7 million people. In 2003, key parts of the mid-region watershed of the river were included within the Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.[5]

Irrawaddy River

The Irrawaddy River or Ayeyarwady River (Burmese: ဧရာဝတီမြစ်; MLCTS: erawa.ti mrac, pronounced: [ʔèjàwədì mjɪʔ], also spelt Ayeyarwaddy) is a river that flows from north to south through Myanmar. It is the country's largest river and most important commercial waterway. Originating from the confluence of the N'mai and Mali rivers, it flows relatively straight North-South before emptying through the Irrawaddy Delta into the Andaman Sea. Its drainage basin of about 255,081 square kilometres (98,487 sq mi) covers a large part of Burma. After Rudyard Kipling's poem, it is sometimes referred to as 'The Road to Mandalay'.

As early as the sixth century the river was used for trade and transport. Having developed an extensive network of irrigation canals, the river became important to the British Empire after it had colonized Burma. The river is still as vital today, as a considerable amount of (export) goods and traffic moves by river. Rice is produced in the Irrawaddy Delta, irrigated by water from the river.

In 2007, Myanmar's military dictatorship signed an agreement for the construction of seven hydroelectric dams, yielding a total 13,360 MW, in the N'mai and Mali Rivers, including the 3,600 MW Myitsone Dam at the confluence of both rivers. Environmental organisations have raised concerns about the ecological impacts on the river's biodiverse ecosystems. Animals potentially impacted include the threatened Irrawaddy dolphin and the Irrawaddy river shark, an extremely rare species of river shark.

Pearl River

The Pearl River or Zhu Jiang (Chinese: 珠江; pinyin: Zhū Jiāng; Jyutping: zyu1 gong1, literally "Pearl River", pronounced [ʈʂú tɕjɑ́ŋ]; Portuguese: Rio das Pérolas) or less commonly, the Guangdong River or Canton River, (Chinese: 粤江), is an extensive river system in southern China. The name Pearl River is usually used as a catchment term to refer to the watersheds of the Xi River ("West River"), the Bei River ("North River"), and the Dong River ("East River"). These rivers are all considered tributaries of the Pearl River because they share a common delta, the Pearl River Delta. Measured from the farthest reaches of the Xi Jiang, the Pearl River system is China's third longest river, 2,400 kilometres (1,500 mi), after the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, and second largest by volume, after the Yangtze. The 409,480-square-kilometre (158,100 sq mi) Pearl River Basin (珠江流域) drains the majority of South Central, (Guangdong and Guangxi provinces), as well as parts of Southwest (Yunnan, Guizhou, Hunan and Jiangxi provinces) in China, and Northeast of Vietnam (Cao Bằng and Lạng Sơn).

As well as referring to the system as a whole, the Pearl River (Zhu Jiang) name is also applied to a specific branch within the system. This Pearl River is the widest distributary within the delta, although considerably short. The waters that converge east of the Bei Jiang are first referred to as the Pearl River just north of Guangzhou. The Pearl River is famed as the river that flows through Guangzhou. The Pearl River's estuary, Bocca Tigris, is regularly dredged so as to keep it open for ocean vessels. The mouth of the Pearl River forms a large bay in the southeast of the delta, the Pearl River Estuary, the Bocca Tigris separates Shizi Ocean in the north and Lingding Ocean in the south. This bay separates Macau and Zhuhai from Hong Kong and Shenzhen.

Honghe River (Red River)

The Red River (Chinese: t 紅河, s 红河, p Hóng Hé; Vietnamese: Sông Hồng), also known as the Hồng Hà and Sông Cái (lit. "Mother River") in Vietnamese[citation needed] and the Yuan River (元江, Yuán Jiāng) in Chinese, is a river that flows from Yunnan in southwest China through northern Vietnam to the Gulf of Tonkin. According to C. Michael Hogan, the associated Red River Fault was instrumental in forming the entire South China Sea at least as early as 37 million years before present.

The Red River begins in China's Yunnan province in the mountains south of Dali. It flows generally southeastward, passing through Dai ethnic minority areas before leaving China through Yunnan's Honghe Autonomous Prefecture. It enters Vietnam at Lào Cai Province. It forms a portion of the international border between China and Vietnam. The river, known as Thao River for this upper stretch, continues its southeasterly course through northwestern Vietnam before emerging from the mountains to reach the midlands.[citation needed] Its main tributaries, the Black River (Da River) and Lô River join in to form the very broad Hồng near Việt Trì, Phu Tho Province. Downstream from Việt Trì, the river and its many distributaries spread out to form the Red River Delta. The Red River flows past the Vietnamese capital Hanoi before emptying into the Gulf of Tonkin.[citation needed]

The reddish-brown heavily silt-laden water gives the river its name. The Red River is notorious for its violent floods with its seasonally wide volume fluctuations. The delta is a major agricultural area of Vietnam with vast area devoted to rice. The land is protected by an elaborate network of dikes and levees.[citation needed]

The Black River and Lô River are the Red River's two chief tributaries.

River ports[edit]

Jinghong, Guanlei and Simao District river ports are open to the outside world. Many rivers open for commercial international trade with neighboring countries. Lancang River (known as the Mekong in its lower reaches) is the only international river linking 6 countries in Asia.

Most of the rivers in Yunnan are unnavigable, except for short distances or in broken stretches. Boats travel between towns on the shores of Erhai Lake, but they are unable to sail beyond there to connect with other waterways.

Lakes[edit]

There are also lakes of various sizes in Yunnan such as Dianchi Lake, Erhai Lake and Fuxian Lake. Fuxian Lake forbids motor boats.

Sea-ports[edit]

There are no seaports in Yunnan, as the province is landlocked, however water transport to peninsular Southeast Asia, via the Mekong river is available from Jinghong, as stated above.