TheYangtzeRiver 　　TheYangtzeRiver,orChangJiang,isthelongestriverinChinaandAsia,andthethird-longestintheworld,aftertheNileinAfricaandtheAmazoninSouthAmerica. 　　Theriverisabout6,380kmlongandflowsfromitssourceinQinghaiProvince,eastwardsintotheEastChinaSeaatShanghai.ItisconsideredbysomepeopleasadividinglinebetweenNorthandSouthChina,althoughgeographersgenerallyconsidertheQinling-HuaiRiverlinetobetheofficiallineofgeographicaldivision.Asthelargestriverintheregion,theYangtzeishistorically,culturally,andeconomicallyimportanttoChina.Oneofthedamsontheriver,theThreeGorgesDam,isthelargesthydro-electricpowerstationintheworld. 　　ThenameYangtzeRiver,aswellasvarioussimilarnamessuchasYangtseRiver,YangziRiver,YangtzeKiang,etc.,isderivedfromYangziJiang,which,beginningintheSuiDynasty,wastheChinesenamefortheriverinitslowerreaches,specifically,thestretchbetweenYangzhouandZhenjiang.ThenamecomesfromtheancientferrycrossingYangziJin(meaning"YangziCrossing").FromtheMingDynasty,thenamewassometimeswritten洋子(yángzĭ).Becauseitwasthenamefirstheardbymissionariesandtraders,thisnamewasappliedinEnglishtothewholeriver.InChinese,YangziJiangisconsideredahistoricalorpoeticnamefortheriver.ThemodernChinesename,ChangJiang,literallymeans"longriver"andmaysometimesalsobeusedinEnglish.Itisalsoknowntomanyasthe'MainStreet'ofChina. 　　Likemanyrivers,theriverisknownbydifferentnamesoveritscourse.Atitssource,itiscalledinChinesetheDangqu.Downstream,itiscalledtheTuotuoRiverandthentheTongtianRiver.WhereitrunsthroughdeepgorgesparalleltotheMekongandtheSalweenbeforeemergingontotheplainsofSichuan,itisknownastheJinshaRiver. 　　ThefirstturnoftheYangtzeatShigu,YunnanProvince,wheretheriverturns180degreesfromsouth-tonorth-bound. 　　YangtzewatershedTheYangtzewasearlierknowntotheChineseassimplyJiang(Jiāng),whichhasbecomeagenericnamemeaning"river",ortheDaJiang.TheTibetannamefortheriverisDrichu.TheYangtzeissometimesreferredtoastheGoldenWaterway.