Along the Yellow River
Photo: Shannon1, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
The Yellow River (Chinese: 黄河 Huáng Hé) is one of China's great rivers, the cradle of Chinese civilization and a historic transport route. It is not as important a tourist route as the Yangtze further south, but might be of interest to some.
The Yellow River is not tame. Only parts of it are navigable; other sections have quite a rapid current. It has had many disastrous floods; irrigation and flood control projects have been going on in the area for several thousand years and have never achieved complete success.
UnderstandChinese civilization first developed along the Yellow River; the Shang Dynasty ruled a region around the river from 1700 BCE.
CitiesThe river rises in Qinghai in the foothills of the Himalayas and runs north to Inner Mongolia. There it runs in a big arc, with the Great Wall following it for some distance, before turning east toward the sea:
PrepareMuch of the area is not geared for foreign tourists. If you do not speak Chinese, you will need a least a phrasebook, preferably a bilingual guide. If possible, learn some Chinese before setting out.
Get inThe nearest major airport is Beijing. See the China article for visa information.
GoThere are trains throughout the area. All the trains to western China (Xinjiang, Qinghai, Gansu) go through Lanzhou, which lies on the banks of the Yellow River.
Go nextFrom the inland end of this route, you could turn west onto the Silk Road (Lanzhou is on the main route), turn southeast to reach Xi'an, or go a little west to Golmud which is a jumping off point for Tibet.
Sources and licences
- Guide text adapted from the Wikivoyage article "Along the Yellow River" by its contributors, available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read on Wikivoyage · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Photo: Shannon1, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons