The Zhi Qu (Tibetan) or Tongtian River () is a long river in

Qinghai Qinghai (; alternately romanized as Tsinghai, Ch'inghai), also known as Kokonor, is a landlocked province in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. It is the fourth largest province of China by area and has the third smallest po ...

Province, northwest

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

. It begins at the confluence of

Tuotuo River The Mar Qu, Ulan Moron ( mn}, ''Ulaan Mörön'', lit. "Red River"; zh, 乌兰木伦, p=Wūlánmùlún) or Tuotuo River (, Chinese: , p ''Tuótuó Hé'', lit. "Tearful River"Powers, John & al. ''Historical Dictionary of Tibet' ...

and

Dangqu River The Dangqu (Chinese: , p ''Dāngqū'') or Dam Chu ( Tibetan: , w Dam Chu'', lit. "Marshy River") is a river in Qinghai province in the People's Republic of China. It is the geographic headwater of the Yangtze River, al ...

, before flowing southeast and meeting the

Jinsha River The Jinsha River (, Tibetan: Dri Chu, འབྲི་ཆུ) is the Chinese name for the upper stretches of the Yangtze River. It flows through the provinces of Qinghai, Sichuan, and Yunnan in western China. The river passes through Tiger L ...

near the border of

and

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of t ...

. It is within the Yangtze River

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

Name

The Chinese name comes from a fabled river in the ''

Journey to the West ''Journey to the West'' () is a Chinese novel published in the 16th century during the Ming dynasty and attributed to Wu Cheng'en. It is regarded as one of the greatest Classic Chinese Novels, and has been described as arguably the most popul ...

''. In antiquity, it was called the Yak River. In Mongolian, this section is known as the Murui-ussu (lit. "Winding Stream") and is sometimes confused with the nearby Baishui. Yule, Henry. ''The River of Golden Sand: The Narrative of a Journey Through China and Eastern Tibet to Burmah'', Vol. 1
p. 35
. "Introductory Essay." 1880. Reprint: Cambridge University Press, 2010. Retrieved August 14, 2013.

Geography

The three principal headwaters—the Chumaer, Muluwusu, and Akedamu rivers—join to form the Tongtian River, which flows southeast to Zhimenda near the frontier between

and

provinces, where it becomes the Jinsha River (''Jinsha Jiang''). The Jinsha River is a primary tributary of the Yangtze River (''Chang Jiang''). The Tongtian River is one of the five large rivers flowing from headwaters on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Its length is 1,012 kilometres, draining an area of 138,000 square kilometres. Pilgrims go to the river because it is mythical, but also it is known for its "sutra bridge" and "Gyiana Mani stones".

Dams

The Tongtian is planned for heavy development, primarily for

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...

power. As of March 2014 a total of 10 dams are planned for the river. Those dams are listed below from downstream to upstream. * Sewu Dam – Planned, 176.8 MW *

Xirong Dam Xirong () or Rong were various people who lived primarily in and around the western extremities of ancient China (in modern Gansu and Qinghai). They were known as early as the Shang dynasty (1765–1122 BCE), as one of the Four Barbarians that fr ...

– Planned, 160.5 MW * Cefang Dam – Planned, 158 MW * Genzhe Dam – Planned, 612 MW * Leyi Dam – Planned, 112.8 MW * Dequkou Dam – Planned, 276.5 MW * Ruoqin Dam – Planned, 200 MW * Lumari Dam – Planned, 72 MW *

Yage Dam ''Banisteriopsis caapi'', also known as ayahuasca, caapi, soul vine, or yagé (yage), is a South American liana of the family Malpighiaceae. It is one half of ayahuasca, a decoction with a long history of its entheogenic (connecting to spirit) u ...

– Planned, 63.6 MW * Marigei Dam – Planned, 10.4 MW

References

External links

A Visit to Gyigu by the Tongtian River
{{coord missing, Qinghai Rivers of Qinghai Jinsha River Tributaries of the Yangtze River

Name

Geography

Dams

See also

References

External links