Scientists Suggest New Origins for China’s ‘Mother Rivers’

The mother rivers of the Chinese nation, the Yangtze and the Yellow Rivers, originate from south of the Qinghai Plateau. However, scientists have now proposed new locations for their origins, according to recent research.

Quoting Mr. Tang Qiangli from Yangtze River Origin Survey Team, the July 23 Lanzhou Daily report says that the Yangtze River originates from the Dangqu River, and the Yellow River originates from the Kariqu River.

In the past, people had believed that the Tuotuo River was the true source of the Yangtze River, and the Maqu River was the origin of the Yellow River. These two sources are very close to each other geographically and are called the Source Regions of Rivers.

Stretching 6,300 kilometers (3,940 miles), the Yangtze is the longest river in China. In the past it was believed that the Yangtze had three headwaters: the Tuotuo River being the true source, the Chumar River its northern source, and its southern source the Dangqu River.

In the 1970s, the Yangtze Water Resources Commission concluded that the Tuotuo River was the true source of the Yangtze and ignored the Dangqu River, which is longer and has a larger discharge and drainage basin than the Tuotuo.

From Sept. 6 to Oct. 16, 2008, a group of scientists made an on-the-spot survey of the 19 headwaters of the three rivers: Yangtze, Yellow, and Lancan. This was the first large-scale survey in China to confirm the sources of China’s three major rivers.

Tang Qianli, head of the survey team, said that the survey adopted international standards used in defining the true sources of rivers—length, discharge, and consistence in flowing direction.

Scientists made detailed observations of the headwaters and weather, hydrology, glacier, geology, environment, and physiography in the region. After comparison, the scientists concluded that the Dangqu is longer and has a larger discharge and drainage basin than the Tuotuo.

The amount of discharge of the Dangqu River is 2 to 3 times that of the Tuotuo. Many of them believed that the Dangqu should be considered the true source of the Yangtze River based on current information.

The second longest river, the Yellow River, originates from Bayan Har Mountain in southern Qinghai Province. Tang said that the survey found the headwater of Kariqu stretches 226.64 miles, 22.83 miles longer than Maqu’s headwater. Also, the discharge of Kariqu is twice that of Maqu. Based on the length criteria, Kariqu should be considered the true source of the Yellow River.