Yangtze River

“ The provincial-level people's governments in the Yangtze River basin shall formulate and organize the implementation of plans for the restoration of the connectivity of the river and lake systems in their respective administrative areas to gradually improve the connectivity of the rivers and lakes in the Yangtze River basin, restore the ecological flow of the rivers and lakes, and maintain the ecological functions of the river and lake systems. ”

“ I have been pacing the bridge between the paddle-boxes, contemplating this scene, until we dropped our anchor, and I came down to tell you of this my first experience of the Yangtze. And what will the sum of those experiences be? We are going into an unknown region, along a river which, beyond Nankin, has not been navigated by Europeans. We are to make our way through the lines of those strange beings the Chinese Rebels. We are to penetrate beyond them to cities, of the magnitude and population of which fabulous stories are told; among people who have never seen Western men ”

“ The great Yangtze River sweeps beneath the walls, and the city has canal and railway connection of the finest. The city, as was discovered when General Chang defended it, is commanded by the peaks of Purple Mountain on the north. There are fortified hills within the city, and great avenues down which run modern electric cars. Ruins of the last pure Chinese dynasty remain: the Ming palace, the picturesque tombs, and an avenue lined with wonderful gigantic camels, lions, elephants, etc., similar to the Ming Avenue at Nankow on the Great Wall above Peking. ”

“ In our regulation work of the Yangtze, we shall add a piece of new land, over six square miles, in front of Chinkiang. This land on the south side of the river will be utilized for city-planning for our new Chinkiang. On the north side, land should also be taken up by the state to build another city. The north side will be bound to outgrow that of the south for the whole of Hoangho Valley could only emerge into the Yangtze by waterway through this point. ”

“ Near this point, the Serpent River, so-called from its tortuous configuration, winds its way through deep ravines and joins the main stream. As may be imagined, navigation on these stretches of the river is extremely perilous, and an ascent of the Upper Yangtze takes several months to perform since the boats must be hauled over the numerous rapids by men, called professionally "trackers," whose work is so strenuous that they are bent nearly double as they crawl along the tow-paths made against the cliffs. ”

“ The Chinese appear to have rested all their hopes for the defence of the Yangtze river, and the approach to Nankin, entirely upon the strength of their works at Woosung, and had consequently made little or no preparations for resistance higher up. It had, indeed, been recommended by one of the Tartar generals that a portion of the river below Nankin should be staked across, and junks laden with stones sunk to impede the navigation, and likewise that fire-vessels should be prepared. ”

“ The year 1868 was marked by serious anti-foreign outbreaks in widely distant provinces of the empire. At Yangchow, a wealthy city on the Grand Canal, twelve miles from the left bank of the Yangtze river, a favourite resort for retired officials, rich salt merchants, and gentry, the Inland missionaries under the orders of Mr Hudson Taylor established themselves. In no locality in China could they have been less welcome, for there they met their natural enemies in the greatest force. ”

“ This line connects the commercial center of western China—Chungking—with the Great Eastern Port in almost a straight route south of the Yangtze River. It starts from the Great Eastern Port and goes to Hangchow, then through Linan, Ghanghwa, to Hweichow, in Anhwei. From Hweichow it proceeds to Siuning and Kimen, then crosses the border into Kiangsi and passing Hukow reaches Kiukiang. From Kiukiang it follows the right bank of the Yangtze, crosses the Hupeh border to Hingkwochow and then proceeds to Tungshan and Tsungyang, where it passes over the border to Yochow in Hunan. ”

“ This played a great and efficient part as an auxiliary force on the Yangtze River, and contributed in no small measure to check the rapid and ready concentration of the rebel forces, which had spread over a vast area on both banks of the great Yangtze River. ”

“ When we reached its banks we saw a far more turbulent flood than that of the Yangtze, and of the same dull mud colour. It took a little time to arrange for us to be ferried across and then to get our cart and mules on board, and we had time to study the route to be taken, as there was a large amount of traffic at this point. It seemed strange that there was no bridge across, especially when we saw the difficulty of navigating it; but it may be that, as the river is so capricious in its choice of a bed, the authorities consider it not worth while to build a bridge. ”

“ Three great rivers flow eastward and 3 southward—the Hoang-ho, or Yellow River, in the north, the Yangtze in the centre, and the Pearl River, of which the West River is the largest branch, in the south. The Yangtze alone with its affluents is calculated to afford no less than 36,000 miles of waterways. The river population of China comprises many millions, whose varied occupations present some of the most interesting aspects of Chinese life. ”

“ To the traveller who enjoys a spice of danger and loves glorious scenery no trip could be more attractive than a journey up the Yangtze for a month or six weeks, and it is quite easy to go almost the length of the empire by it. The return journey is performed in a very short time, and is certainly not lacking in excitement; for the boats seem to fly past us, and all hands on board are needed to keep the junk at all head foremost; while steering is a work demanding the utmost coolness, strength, and intrepidity, for the river is full of hidden rocks. ”

“ We notice that the Chinese always seem more pleased and satisfied when they get the usual tip than when they get more. Wanhsien looked doubly attractive to us from the fact that we saw a British gunboat lying on the farther side of the river, but in itself the town is eminently picturesque, though dirty. A camel-back bridge, spanning a stream just before it entered the Yangtze, was perhaps the prettiest bit of all. Below it were endless yards of cotton hanging out to dry, after being dyed. ”

“ Two sets of our friends have each been wrecked three times this season on their way up the river, and on one occasion the boat broke completely in half. Every one hastened to save what they could, except a Chinaman, who was observed busily washing his clothes with the soap that was oozing out of one of the cases of stores! No goods are worth insuring on the Yangtze, as the insurance rates are so high, and it is so difficult—often impossible—to prove what has been lost. ”

“ Think not that the life will be luxurious—houseboat life on the Upper Yangtze is decidedly not luxurious. Were it not for the magnificence of the scenery and ever-changing outdoor surroundings, as a matter of fact, the long river journey would probably become unbearably dull.
Our wu-pan was to get through the Gorges in as short a time as was possible, and for that reason we traveled in the discomfort of the smallest boat used to face the rapids. ”

“ Written in 818, when he was being towed up the rapids to Chung-chou.
Above, a mountain ten thousand feet high:
Below, a river a thousand fathoms deep.
A strip of green, walled by cliffs of stone:
Wide enough for the passage of a single reed. [1]
At Chü-t'ang a straight cleft yawns:
At Yen-yü islands block the stream.
Long before night the walls are black with dusk;
Without wind white waves rise.
The big rocks are like a flat sword:
The little rocks resemble ivory tusks.
We are stuck fast and cannot move a step. ”

“ But as a casual traveler, may I say that the first experience I had of the gorges made me modest, patient, single-minded, conscious of man's significant insignificance, conscious of the unspeakable, wondrous grandeur of this unvisited corner of the world—a spot in which blustering, selfish, self-conceited persons will not fare well? Humility and patience are the first requisites in traveling on the Upper Yangtze. ”

“ Above Ich‛ang, where the river flows between rocky gorges, and where a series of rapids are encountered, navigation is still more difficult. But taking the Yangtsze as a whole, with its numerous subsidiary streams, canals and lakes, it forms a highway of communication unrivalled in any other country in the world. About half the sea-borne commerce of all China is further distributed by means of the Yangtsze and its connexions, not to mention the interchange of native produce between the provinces, which is carried by native sailing craft numbered by thousands. ”

“ This line starts from Lhasa, following the old imperial highway in a northward direction and proceeds by Talong to Yarh, which lies on the southeastern side of Tengri Nor Lake. After Yarh, the line turns more eastward and proceeds across the watershed from the Sanpo Valley to the Lukiang Valley by the Shuangtsu Pass. Thence turning more eastward the line proceeds across the headwater of the Lukiang to that of the Yangtze by passing many valleys, streams, and mountain passes. Then it crosses the main body of the Upper Yangtze, which is here known as the Kinshakiang, over the Huhusair Bridge. ”

“ The Yangtze rises in Central Asia, and drains an area of 600,000 square miles of Midland China.
We pass hundreds of junks, the quaintest ships afloat in the world, with their sides decorated with brilliant blue and red frescoes, and sails of bamboo matting; the all-seeing black and white eye is in the bow of the boat, for no Chinese junk would sail without this occult protection. ”

“ Each day has its tasks, its rapids, its perils, its glories, its fascinations, its surprises, and—if you will live as we did, its curry and rice. Then, if you are traveling with a companion, remember that it is better to yield a little than to quarrel a great deal. Most disagreeable and undignified is it anywhere to get into the habit of standing up for what people are pleased to call their little rights, but nowhere more so than on the Upper Yangtze houseboat, under the gaze of a Yangtze crew. ”

“ The struggle, which lasted for years, was a desperate one; and, at the present time, traces are everywhere to be seen in the shape of ruined towns and villages and lands lying waste and desolate. The waterways that lead to the province of Kuei-chow, with one exception, flow through Ssŭ-ch’uan. That exception is the Yuan River, which, rising in the east of the province, flows east and north-east into the Tung-t’ing Lake, which debouches into the Yang-tsze, one hundred and twenty-three miles to the west of Hankow. ”

“ We have already seen, however, that underground rivers are very common in Kuei-chow and Yün-nan, and it is not impossible that the surplus waters of the lake may find their way by underground channels into the head-waters of the K’o-tu River, which is over a thousand feet below the level of the Wei-ning plain. To reach the city we skirted the eastern shore of the lake, crossing a small three-arched stone bridge which spans a rivulet draining a valley to the south-east and entering the lake. ”

“ Certainly we have endured much to see Peking. Two days afterwards we are in the mouth of the Yangtze, anxiously looking for the black funnels of the Messageries boat. We know she should have left at noon to-day, and it is just that hour. Yes, it is all right. She is still there, surrounded by lighters, and we steam close to find out that she sails in twenty hours. There has been a delay of one day, luckily for us.
We proceed up the Woosung tributary of the Yangtze. It is a glorious morning. The junks, painted in gaudy colours, with the all-seeing, staring white and black eye, glide past us. ”

“ A small stream from the western mountains flows through the town on its way to join the river in the plain. In 1881, a terrific hailstorm swept over mountain and plain; the stream became a roaring torrent and annihilated nearly the whole town—the number of killed and drowned being estimated at a thousand souls.
Following up the stream towards its source, we attained, after a few hours’ climb, the ridge of the mountain, where the roads are worn out of the solid limestone to a depth of twelve feet by the constant traffic between the salt springs to the south-west and Ning-yuan Fu. ”

“ There is, indeed, a local industry of inconsiderable proportions. In the eastern part of the city are three wells, about a hundred feet deep, containing weak brine, which, on being passed through earth, leaves a saline deposit. From this, which is collected and placed in water, salt is evaporated and consumed locally. The river which drains the Yün-nan Fu lake flows north under the eastern wall of the ruined city to the Yang-tsze. ”

“ In autumn, when the waters of the Yangtse commence to fall and the inundated districts along its banks become dry, the plain at Hankow affords excellent riding, where for miles one can swing along at a hand-gallop without once having to draw rein. In spring, when covered with fresh, green grass, it possesses an additional charm, and until rising waters once more confine riding to the race-course and the river bank, there are few places in China where such magnificent gallops can be obtained. ”

“ For all schemes to tame the wild and fierce Yangtsze are clearly impossible. The river rises and falls more than a hundred feet with great rapidity, and no human hand could ever throw a dam across this mass of surging water. ”

“ The Lower Yangtsze is a river route, now mainly served by steamers (though the salt is still carried by junks) , and the Upper Yangtsze is a river route also, but much more difficult of navigation. The Kwei-chow route is up the river Yuen from Changte and the Tung-tʽing lake. The Han river route becomes beyong Sing-nagn Fu a land route over the Tsingling mountains to the capital of Shen-si, and thence on to Kan-suh, Mongolia and Siberia. The Shan-si route from Peking, wholly by road, calls for no detailed account; the Manchurian route is now adequately served by railways. ”