Yellow river why is it called

Because water levels in the river rise every year, the levees also have to be raised. In many places the river has sat above the surrounding landscape for some time.

The journalist Edgar Snow wrote in "The riverbed [is] twenty to twenty-five feet above the surrounding countryside. I have watched junks sail overhead at that height. Today, the Yellow River is above the landscape for much of its last kilometers miles to the sea and the river continues to rise at an alarming rate of four inches a year.

If a levee breaks, larger tracts of the countryside are vulnerable to flooding. Much of the silt, sand and mud carried by the Yellow River originates in the faster-flowing upper reaches but is largely deposited on the flat plain, where the river flow is much slower. Artificial embankments that channel the flow require constant repair. In some places the river flows on a raised ridge that is 50 meters feet m or more above the plain.

Changing Yellow River courses. The Yellow River has dried up more than 30 times since , when it ran dry for the first time in recorded history. It ran dry all but one year in the s. In , it ran dry for days along a mile section in Shandong, not far from where it empties into the Yellow Sea. In it ran dry days. In , for days, denying water to 7. The outflow o the river is just 10 percent of what t was in the s. Timely releases of reservoir water kept it from drying up in the s.

The Yellow River wasn't always like this. A resident of one town on the river told the Los Angeles Times, "Forty years ago, their was so much water that you could sit on the embankment, wait for fish to swim by, and go down ad catch them. Water levels in were 60 percent of normal. In the early months of , million cubic meters of water was diverted to Beijing and Hebei and Shandong Provinces to help with a drought there an ensure there were adequate water supplies for the Olympics.

More than 70 million cubic meters was diverted to the city of Qingdao, where the Olympics sailing events were held. The Yellow River's problems begin at its source where droughts in the Tibetan plateau have reduced the amount of water flowing to the river.

But the main reason the river runs dry is because between 80 to 90 percent of its water had been taken upstream for urban areas, industry and agriculture. Decline of water caused by global warming and the melting of Tibetan glaciers could make the situation worse. We estimate that some provinces and regions will see rather large shortages during peak water use periods. A lot of water is wasted. Agriculture swallows up 65 percent of the Yellow River's water, with more than half lost to leaky pipes and ditches, with rest swallowed up by industry and cities.

Twenty major dams punctuate the Yellow River and another 18 are scheduled to be built by Dams are particularly damaging on the Yellow River because they exacerbate silting and pollution. The reduced flow cause by dams causing silt to settle and prevents the flushing out if pollutants. To keep the river flowing efforts are being made to distribute water more equitably and use it more efficiently.

In August , new laws were passed to better manage and reduce fights over the Yellow River. Beijing gave broad authority to the Water Resources Ministry to oversea management of the river in 11 provinces and municipalities and gave it a mandate to impose stiff fines and sanctions on officials that don't comply with the rules or take more than their share of water. Yellow River Plain in Shandong. The Yellow River is regarded at the cradle of Chinese civilization and culture. By contrast, people in Southeast Asia at this time were still mostly hunter gatherers that used pebble and flake stone tools.

Inhabitant in this area excelled in pottery with patterns of multi-colored twisting and turning patterns. Compared to the animal motifs popular among the inhabitants in the coastal area to the east, they instead created simple yet potent jade objects with geometric designs. Their circular pi and square "ts'ung" were concrete realization of a universal view, which saw the heavens as round and he earth as square.

The segmented pi disk and large circular jade designs may represent the concepts of continuity and eternity. The existence of edged jade objects in great numbers seems to bear out what is recorded in the annals of the Han Dynasties: "In the times of the Yellow Emperor, weapons were made were made of jade. Traditionally it was believed that Chinese civilization arose in the Yellow River valley and spread out from this center. Recent archaeological discoveries, however, reveal a far more complex picture of Neolithic China, with a number of distinct and independent cultures in various regions interacting with and influencing each other.

The best known of these is the Yangshao culture B. Other major Neolithic cultures were the Hongshan culture in northeastern China, the Liangzhu culture in the lower Yangzi River delta, the Shijiahe culture in the middle Yangzi River basin and primitive settlements and burial grounds found at Liuwan in Qinghai Province, Wangyin in Shandong Province, Xinglongwa in Inner Mongolia, and the Yuchisi in Anhui Province, among many others.

Archaeologists now believe that the Yangtze River region was just as much of a birthplace of Chinese culture and civilization as the Yellow River basin. Along the Yangtze archeologists have discovered thousands of items of pottery, porcelain, polished stone tools and axes, elaborately carved jade rings, bracelets and necklaces that date back to at least B. The Peiligang culture is the name given by archaeologists to a group of Neolithic communities in the Yi-Luo river basin in Henan Province, China.

The culture existed from to B. Over sites have been identified with the Peiligang culture, nearly all of them in a fairly compact area of about square kilometers in the area just south of the river and along its banks. The culture is named after the site discovered in at Peiligang, a village in Xinzheng County.

Archaeologists think that the Peiligang culture was egalitarian, with little political organization. The site at Jiahu is the earliest site associated with Peiligang culture. There are many similarities between the main group of Peiligang settlements and the Jiahu culture, which was isolated several days' travel to the south of the main group. Archaeologists are divided about the relationship between Jiahu and the main group. Most agree that Jiahu was part of the Peiligang culture, pointing to the many similarities.

A few archaeologists are pointing to the differences, as well as the distance, believing that Jiahu was a neighbor that shared many cultural characteristics with Peiligang, but was a separate culture.

Primitive humans, including fossils of Homo Erectus discovered in Lantian County, Shaanxi Province, were found to live in the Yellow River basin more than 1. The Yellow Emperor, considered one of the common ancestors for all Chinese, was born in the city of Xinzheng, Henan Province more than 4, years ago. For over 3, years, some major dynasties in Chinese history built their capitals in the river basin, making the region the center of politics, economy and culture in the country.

The Yellow River also witnessed the birth of the four era-defining inventions in ancient China -- printing techniques, papermaking, gunpowder and the compass, which all emerged in the drainage basin. Ironworks discovered in the region show the technology of softening castiron in China came 2, years earlier than similar technologies invented in Europe.

The culture and civilization of the river are the roots of the Chinese nation," said Liu Qingzhu, an expert from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. In Chinese mythology, Da Yu, an ancient hero, tamed the great flood in the river's basin, which reflects the significance of flood control in the region in Chinese history. Over the past 2, years, the Yellow River has broken its dikes 1, times and has made 26 major changes in its course in its lower reaches. To harness the silted river, the Communist Party of China set up the Yellow River water conservancy committee in in the liberated areas.

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You cannot download interactives. Ancient China is responsible for a rich culture, still evident in modern China. From small farming communities rose dynasties such as the Zhou B. E , Qin B. E , and Ming C. Each had its own contribution to the region.

By its banks are mostly lakes, marshes, and grassy meadows, and its water is relatively clear. In the section from Qinghai to Ningxia, the Yellow River flows through steep valleys and cliffs. The river is fast flowing and treacherous. Due to sediment accumulation, the riverbed is several meters above the cities and farmlands around it, forming the world-famous " above ground river "!

The Yellow River carries 1. A great amount of archeological information proves that the Yellow River was the most prosperous region in early Chinese history — BC. The Yellow River is not just an iconic river of China, but also the symbol of the Chinese spirit : bearing burdens its sedimentation , adaptation its course changes , and perseverance its continual flow.

For thousands of years, the Yellow River has been admired by great poets, artists, and common people. The Yellow River is also called "China's Sorrow". Each year, over 1. Before damming, it was extremely prone to flooding, and caused millions of deaths , including the deadliest disaster in human history. Along the Yellow River, there are numerous historical and ancient attractions and stunning scenery. See 5-Day Northern Sichuan Tour. Tangke Town lies on the border of Gansu and Sichuan provinces.

There you can see the First Bend of Yellow River. The Yellow River is surrounded by a vast prairie. Endless wetlands are dotted with beautiful lakes. An abundance of birds fly over the rose willows there.