Pearl River (China)
Coordinates: 22°46′N 113°38′E / 22.767°N 113.633°E
Pearl River (珠江) | |
Zhu Jiang | |
Pearl River in Guangzhou | |
Countries | China, Vietnam |
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States | Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macau, Cao Bằng, Lạng Sơn |
Source | various sources of its tributaries |
Mouth | South China Sea |
Length | 2,400 km (1,491 mi) [1] |
Basin | 453,700 km2 (175,175 sq mi) [2] |
Discharge | |
- average | 9,500 m3/s (335,489 cu ft/s) [3] |
The course of the Pearl River system through China and Vietnam
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Pearl River | |||||||||||||
Chinese | 珠江 | ||||||||||||
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Yue River / Guangdong River | |||||||||||||
Traditional Chinese | 粵江 | ||||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 粤江 | ||||||||||||
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The Pearl River or Zhu Jiang (Chinese: 珠江; pinyin: Zhū Jiāng; Jyutping: zyu1 gong1, literally "Pearl River", pronounced [ʈʂú tɕjɑ́ŋ]; Portuguese: Rio das Pérolas) or less commonly, the Guangdong River or Canton River, (Chinese: 粤江), is an extensive river system in southern China. The name Pearl River is usually used as a catchment term to refer to the watersheds of the Xi Jiang ("West River"), the Bei Jiang ("North River"), and the Dong Jiang ("East River"). These rivers are all considered tributaries of the Pearl River because they share a common delta, the Pearl River Delta. Measured from the farthest reaches of the Xi Jiang, the Pearl River system is China's third longest river, 2,400 kilometres (1,500 mi), after the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, and second largest by volume, after the Yangtze. The 409,480-square-kilometre (158,100 sq mi) Pearl River Basin (珠江流域) drains the majority of South Central, (Guangdong and Guangxi provinces), as well as parts of Southwest (Yunnan, Guizhou, Hunan and Jiangxi provinces) in China, and Northeast of Vietnam (Cao Bằng and Lạng Sơn).
As well as referring to the system as a whole, the Pearl River (Zhu Jiang) name is also applied to a specific branch within the system. This Pearl River is the widest distributary within the delta, although considerably short. The waters that converge east of the Bei Jiang are first referred to as the Pearl River just north of Guangzhou. The Pearl River is famed as the river that flows through Guangzhou. The Pearl River's estuary, Bocca Tigris, is regularly dredged so as to keep it open for ocean vessels. The mouth of the Pearl River forms a large bay in the southeast of the delta, the Pearl River Estuary, the Bocca Tigris separates Shizi Ocean in the north and Lingding Ocean in the south. This bay separates Macau and Zhuhai from Hong Kong and Shenzhen.
The Pearl River is named this because of all the pearl colored shells that lie at the bottom of the river in the section that flows through the city of Guangzhou.
A 500 kV-power line, suspended from three of the tallest pylons in the world, the Pylons of Pearl River Crossing, crosses the river near its mouth.
Zhujiang Brewery, one of the three largest domestic breweries in China, is located on the Pearl River Delta within the city of Guangzhou.
Image gallery
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Pearl River at night, Guangzhou
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Humen Pearl River Bridge viewed from Zhenyuan Fort
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Zhuhai and Jiuzhou Islands, viewed from Yeli Island at Pearl River mouth
Settlements
- This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
Crossings
- Guangzhou Bridge
- Haiyin Bridge
- Haizhu Bridge
- Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (planned)
- Huanan Bridge
- Humen Pearl River Bridge
- Hedong Bridge
- Huangpu Bridge
- Jiangwan Bridge
- Jiefang Bridge
- Pazhou Bridge
- Renmin Bridge
- Shiziyang Tunnel
- Xinguang Bridge
- Yajisha Bridge
Tributaries
- Beijiang (Bei) (北江)
- Dongjiang (Dong) (东江)
- Han (韩江)
- Xijiang (Xi) (西江)
See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pearl River (China). |
- List of rivers in China
- Geography of China
- Ship lifts in China
- List of rivers of Hong Kong
References
- ↑ Encyclopaedia Britannica: Yangtze River
- ↑ "珠江概况". 珠江水利网.
- ↑ "Chapter 5: Plate D-6 — GES DISC: Goddard Earth Sciences, Data & Information Services Center". Disc.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2012-11-08.
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