Jin River (Sichuan)
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The Jin River ( zh, c= , p= Jǐn Jiāng) is a
river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...
of
Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...
, China. It flows through the provincial capital of
Chengdu Chengdu; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ; Chinese postal romanization, previously Romanization of Chinese, romanized as Chengtu. is the capital city of the Chinese province of Sichuan. With a ...
. It consists of three parts: the Fu River, an extension of the Fu River (Chinese: 府河) and the Nan River(Chinese: 南河). The Jin River has a long and complex cultural history, dating back to 256 BC when it was formed. Over the course of several
dynasties A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others. Historians ...
, the Jin River has been given different names by the ruler in power at the time. Flowing the provincial capital of Chengdu city, the river historically provided a source for
irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has bee ...
, boat travel, and a means to dispose of
wastewater Wastewater (or waste water) is water generated after the use of freshwater, raw water, drinking water or saline water in a variety of deliberate applications or processes. Another definition of wastewater is "Used water from any combination of do ...
. As the cities’ population increased,
pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause harm. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the component ...
of the river became a major environmental concern leading to regulation projects beginning in 1993. The current ecological state of the river is degraded as it is overloaded with dissolved nitrogen and phosphorus inputs from urban sources. Alongside the riverbank of the Jin River, theme parks were built and numerous tourism programs were created.


Geography


Course and tributaries

Jin River is located in the western region of
Sichuan Basin The Sichuan Basin (), formerly transliterated as the Szechwan Basin, sometimes called the Red Basin, is a lowland region in southwestern China. It is surrounded by mountains on all sides and is drained by the upper Yangtze River and its tributar ...
and the eastern region of Qinghai
Tibet Plateau The Tibetan Plateau, also known as the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau or Qingzang Plateau, is a vast elevated plateau located at the intersection of Central, South, and East Asia. Geographically, it is located to the north of Himalayas and the Indian s ...
. The Fu River and the Nan River, the two components of the Jin River, encircle the ancient city of Chengdu. The Fu River starts from XinQuan Road (Chinese: 新泉路) and ends in Hexin Village (Chinese: 河心村) inside Chengdu city. The extension of the Fu River starts from Hexin Village and flows until it joins the Min River (Chinese: 岷江) at
Pengshan district Pengshan District () is a district of the city of Meishan, Sichuan Province Sichuan is a Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mou ...
(Chinese: 彭山区) in the city of
Meishan natively Meishan ( zh, s=眉山; Sichuanese Pinyin: Mi2san1; local pronunciation: ; zh, p=Méishān , w=Mei-shan), formerly known as Meizhou () or Qingzhou (), is a prefecture-level city with 2,955,219 inhabitants as of 2020 census of whom ...
(Chinese: 眉山), further south of Chengdu. The Fu River is 19.4 km long. The Nan River occupies a small segment of the Jin River and its length is only 5.63 km. The Nan River joins the Fu River at the
confluence In geography, a confluence (also ''conflux'') occurs where two or more watercourses join to form a single channel (geography), channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main ...
point called He Jiang Ting (Chinese: 合江亭) inside Chengdu city. From the confluence point to Hexin Village, the Baidu Map calls this reach the Fu River. Therefore, the Nan River is a
tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...
of the Fu River. The total length of the Jin River is 97.3 km. The total watershed area that Jin River flows across is 2090 km2.


Origin of the Fu River

Chengdu is located within the Min River tributaries of the
Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ...
and Tuo Jiang Basin. Both the Fu River and the Nan River are fed by the Min River tributaries. The origins of the Fu River and the Nan River can be attributed to the history of the earliest dam project, called Dujiangyan, built by a local official, Li Bing, and his son in 256 BC. The project consisted of artificial
canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface ...
s, conduits, and
dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...
s that split the Min River into four inner irrigation rivers and one outer river. The four inner rivers flow in artificial conduits whereas the outer river, called the Jin Ma River (Chinese: 金马河), flows in a natural channel at the southernmost position. The four inner irrigation rivers, from north to south, are the Pu Yang River (Chinese: 蒲阳河), the Bai Tiao River (Chinese: 柏条河), the Zou Ma River (Chinese: 走马河), and the Jiang An River (Chinese: 江安河). The Zou Ma River (Chinese: 走马河) and Bai Tiao River (Chinese: 柏条河) flow for several dozens of kilometers and eventually join together at Xiang Cao Hu Wetland Park (Chinese: 香草湖湿地公园). Once it reaches the Chengdu's Shidiyan Dam (Chinese: 石堤堰), it diverges into two rivers, the Pihe River and the southward flowing Fu River.


Origin of the Nan River

The Zou Ma River flows from the northwest in a southeast direction. Not far after Dujiangyan, it spits into the Qingshui River (Chinese: 清水河) and the Zou Ma River. Further south than the Fu River, the Qingshui River eventually flows into Chengdu. After the Qingshui River enters Chengdu, it splits into the Mo Di River (Chinese: 摸底河) and the Qingshui River for a short distance until they merge and form the Nan River. The Nan River is therefore from the Qingshui River. Another inner river derived from Dujiangyan, called the Jiang An River (Chinese: 江安河), flows south of the Zou Ma River and the Qingshui River. The Jiang An River enters Chengdu further south than the Nan River. After that, it joins the Fu River near Nan Hu Wetland Park (Chinese: 南湖湿地公园). Even though the Baidu Map indicates that the river joining the Jiang An River is labelled as Fu River, one Chengdu history book mentions that this part is not considered as the Fu River. This part belongs to the extension that is considered as the Jin River and it flows further down south to join the Min River. If we count the length of the Jin River starting from the start point of the Fu River at the Shidiyan Dam until the confluence with the Min River, then the total length of Jin River is 116.9 km. The Jin Ma River, the only river that flows in a natural channel after Dujiangyan, runs for 70.6 km and eventually joins the Min River shortly after the Jin River ends.


Naming

The Jin River, composed of the Fu River, the Nan River, and the river channel from Hexin Village of Chengdu to the Min River, have been renamed several times over the course of different dynasties. The Fu River was first known as the Pi River, Shiqiao River, or Qingyuan River when the city was called the Chengdu Mansion. After the
Ming Dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...
(1368-1644), the Nan River was known as Wenjian, Dajian, Shengjiang River, Shengqiao Water, Qingjiang, Qingshui River, Fenshui, Fenjian, Guanjin River, and Jinshui. In history, the Fu and the Nan River components of the Jin River were understood unofficially by the people as the "Funan River" for short. This was deemed too informal and was rectified on May 10, 2005, by the Sichuan Provincial People's Government. They are now officially named as their distinct channels.


Ecology


Urban ecology

The current Jin River has
eutrophication Eutrophication is a general term describing a process in which nutrients accumulate in a body of water, resulting in an increased growth of organisms that may deplete the oxygen in the water; ie. the process of too many plants growing on the s ...
issues caused by different types of urban
wastewater Wastewater (or waste water) is water generated after the use of freshwater, raw water, drinking water or saline water in a variety of deliberate applications or processes. Another definition of wastewater is "Used water from any combination of do ...
such as sewage discharge, road
surface runoff Surface runoff (also known as overland flow or terrestrial runoff) is the unconfined flow of water over the ground surface, in contrast to ''channel runoff'' (or ''stream flow''). It occurs when excess rainwater, stormwater, meltwater, or other ...
, and
effluent Effluent is wastewater from sewers or industrial outfalls that flows directly into surface waters, either untreated or after being treated at a facility. The term has slightly different meanings in certain contexts, and may contain various pol ...
.
Eutrophication Eutrophication is a general term describing a process in which nutrients accumulate in a body of water, resulting in an increased growth of organisms that may deplete the oxygen in the water; ie. the process of too many plants growing on the s ...
is caused by excessive amounts of total dissolved
phosphorus Phosphorus is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol P and atomic number 15. All elemental forms of phosphorus are highly Reactivity (chemistry), reactive and are therefore never found in nature. They can nevertheless be prepared ar ...
(TDP) and total dissolved
nitrogen Nitrogen is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a Nonmetal (chemistry), nonmetal and the lightest member of pnictogen, group 15 of the periodic table, often called the Pnictogen, pnictogens. ...
(TDN) in both the Fu River and the Nan River.
Urbanization Urbanization (or urbanisation in British English) is the population shift from Rural area, rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. ...
and wastewater in the City of Chengdu raises the TDP concentration in the Fu River. Compared to the Fu River, the Nan River has less TDP due to less wastewater input. Even though the concentration of TDN is considered low in both the Fu River and the Nan River, it is higher than the type 3 international standard requirements for water quality. Different types of
algae Algae ( , ; : alga ) is an informal term for any organisms of a large and diverse group of photosynthesis, photosynthetic organisms that are not plants, and includes species from multiple distinct clades. Such organisms range from unicellular ...
exist in the waterbody of the Jin River. The growth rate of
Chlorophyll a } Chlorophyll ''a'' is a specific form of chlorophyll used in oxygenic photosynthesis. It absorbs most energy from wavelengths of violet-blue and orange-red light, and it is a poor absorber of green and near-green portions of the spectrum. Chlorop ...
is limited by nitrogen but not by phosphorus according to the determined N: P ratio in the Jin River's water column. Even with high phosphorus inputs, there is no such phenomenon as algal or cyanobacteria blooms because of the small ratio between N and P. The low ratio of N:P found in the Jin River is consistent with other studies where the
phytoplankton Phytoplankton () are the autotrophic (self-feeding) components of the plankton community and a key part of ocean and freshwater Aquatic ecosystem, ecosystems. The name comes from the Greek language, Greek words (), meaning 'plant', and (), mea ...
community was N-limited. It is also caused by low N:P ratio of the water in the area. The N-limiting condition in both the Fu River and the Nan River can pose a potential biological hazard. If any wastewater or effluent that contains a large amount of TDN enter the river, it is likely to trigger an
algal bloom An algal bloom or algae bloom is a rapid increase or accumulation in the population of algae in fresh water or marine water systems. It is often recognized by the discoloration in the water from the algae's pigments. The term ''algae'' encompass ...
. Studies shows that the surface micro-layer, which is the topmost layer of the river that exists in between atmosphere and water body, has larger amounts of P and N than the subsurface layer of the Jin River water body.
Sediment Sediment is a solid material that is transported to a new location where it is deposited. It occurs naturally and, through the processes of weathering and erosion, is broken down and subsequently sediment transport, transported by the action of ...
studies in the Jin River show that the accumulated N and P in
benthic The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from the Ancient Greek word (), meaning "the depths". ...
sediments far exceed the P and N concentration in both the surface micro-layer and the sub-surface layer.


History


Commercial navigation

Historically, the Jin River was once a wide channel that had enough water volume to support boat travel in and out of Chengdu. Since the Jin River connects to the Min River, people used the waterway as a corridor for economic exchanges all the way to the middle and lower reaches of the
Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ...
. It has been estimated that during the early 1900s the Jin River once supported ships that could displace water volumes from 8 to 30 tons. During the
Jin Dynasty Jin may refer to: States Jìn 晉 * Jin (Chinese state) (晉國), major state of the Zhou dynasty, existing from the 11th century BC to 376 BC * Jin dynasty (266–420) (晉朝), also known as Liang Jin and Sima Jin * Jin (Later Tang precursor) ...
(266-420 AD), General Wang Jun led a navy of 70 boats, each capable of carrying 1,000 people, down the river to attack the Eastern Wu. The Jin River was also used for non-commercial travel. Bamboo rafts were used to travel from Dujiangyan to Chengdu. This was the main route of travel until 1933, when the Chengdu-Chongqing Highway was constructed. Shortly after the 1950s, the Jin River's size and water levels rapidly declined to conditions that could no longer support the boating industry of ancient times.
Siltation Siltation is water pollution caused by particulate terrestrial clastic material, with a particle size dominated by silt or clay. It refers both to the increased concentration of suspended sediments and to the increased accumulation (temporary o ...
of the river also contributed to the change in watercourse. In 1952, the Chengdu-Chongqing Railway began operating, making transport over land the dominant mode.


Pollution

The river has a history sediment accumulation due to both natural and
anthropogenic Anthropogenic ("human" + "generating") is an adjective that may refer to: * Anthropogeny, the study of the origins of humanity Anthropogenic may also refer to things that have been generated by humans, as follows: * Human impact on the enviro ...
factors which in the past led to congestion and
flooding A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant concern in agriculture, civi ...
. At the end of the 1980s, due to increased populations and the development of Chengdu, the appearance of the Jin River changed with greater rates of sediment accumulation. The Jin River belongs to a plain river course with a small longitudinal gradient. With the decreased water inflow from upstream of the stream channel, the sediment deposits increased reducing the discharge passing the section. As far as human factors are concerned, with the continual increase in city residents, some business owners and citizens built houses on the riverbanks and occupied the
riparian zone A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. In some regions, the terms riparian woodland, riparian forest, riparian buffer zone, riparian corridor, and riparian strip are used to characterize a ripari ...
. This greatly reduced vegetation on the stream banks and worsened sedimentation. People dumped garbage and waste in the rivers which further narrowed the river channel. The discharge rate of the Jin River has become lower than 1.2 m3/s at this time. Moreover, when the rapid growth of a consumer-based economy was combined with lack of
wastewater Wastewater (or waste water) is water generated after the use of freshwater, raw water, drinking water or saline water in a variety of deliberate applications or processes. Another definition of wastewater is "Used water from any combination of do ...
regulation and treatment, the Jin River became like a septic tank of Chengdu. In 1993, Chengdu's renovation project of the Jin River began and was completed in 1997. In order to prevent wastewater from being dumped into the Jin River, the five-year project relocated about 640 family-based manufacturing stores from riparian zones of the Jin River to suburban areas that were further away. Twenty-six kilometres of sewer pipelines were built on both sides of the Jin River to divert the sewage water into a water treatment facility instead of directly polluting the river. This project also stabilized river banks and built dikes along the river channel in order to prevent flooding caused by sedimentation. Green spaces were created by planting trees and lawn near the Jin River, however, this ecological impact on the river was not studied. The river-cleaning project included the reconstruction of the Anshun Bridge. This historic bridge in Chengdu was destroyed in the 1980s during a period of flooding and was only rebuilt in 2003, after the 5-year river-cleaning project in 1997. The Municipal People's Government was awarded a prize for improving the environment of the river, from the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
.


Recreation and tourism


Night-Tour Jin River

“Night-Tour Jin River” is located on the Jin River Green Road which is along the Jin River in Chengdu, from the Dongmen Pier to He Jiang Ting section. The whole tour takes "Jin River story scroll" as the main storyline, consisting of four parts: Urban Leisure, Dongmen Market, Downtown Meditation and Jin Guan Ancient Courier Station. There are six theme scenes: Night Market, Night Food, Night Exhibition, Night Show, Night Festival, and Night Stay. These themes illustrate the lifestyle of Old Chengdu, Shudu flavor, and international style. There are light shows too. There are two routes for ‘Night-Tour Jin River’: tarting from Dongmen Pier Path: Dongmen Bridge → Buddha Show → Pier story → December City →Architectural Light and Shadow Show → Sailing Show →Water Curtain Fountain →He Jiang Ting → Corridor Bridge tarting from Music Plaza Path: Corridor Bridge → He Jiang Ting → Water Curtain Fountain → Sailing Show → Architectural Light and Shadow Show → December City → Pier Story → Buddha Show → Dongmen Bridge


Living Water Garden

Chengdu Living Water Garden is the first urban eco-environmental park with water as its theme in the world. It is located on the bank of the Jin River, which is across from the Huaxing Road Meng Zhou Wan, Jin Jiang District, Chengdu. The park integrates water environment, treatment, and education, and includes a constructed wetland biological water treatment system, simulated natural forest community, environmental education centre and other facilities. After a variety of treatment processes, the river water, which was polluted by the upstream sources and urban domestic sewage, flows back into the Fu River. Every day, the storage of Living Water Garden can reach 300 cubic meters, demonstrating the process of polluted water from "Turbid" to "Clear" and from "Dead" to "Alive" in nature. Due to the combination of ecological, aesthetic, cultural and educational functions, Living Water Garden has won the "Excellent Waterfront Award" of the International Waterfront Centre in 1998, the "Environmental Design Award" jointly evaluated by the International Association for environmental design and regional magazine of the United States (juxtaposed with the Thames River Treatment Project in the United Kingdom), as well as several international awards including the 1998 UN Habitat Award Awards. At present, it has become one of the most visited parks in Chengdu.


References

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