The Songhua or Sunghwa River (also Haixi or Xingal, ''Sungari'') is one of the primary rivers of China, and the longest

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

Amur The Amur River () or Heilong River ( zh, s=黑龙江) is a perennial river in Northeast Asia, forming the natural border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China (historically the Outer Manchuria, Outer and Inner Manchuria). The Amur ...

. It flows about from Changbai Mountains on the China–North Korea border through China's northeastern

Jilin ) , image_skyline = Changbaishan Tianchi from western rim.jpg , image_alt = , image_caption = View of Heaven Lake , image_map = Jilin in China (+all claims hatched).svg , mapsize = 275px , map_al ...

and

Heilongjiang Heilongjiang is a province in northeast China. It is the northernmost and easternmost province of the country and contains China's northernmost point (in Mohe City along the Amur) and easternmost point (at the confluence of the Amur and Us ...

provinces. The river drains of land, and has an annual discharge of to . The extreme flatness of the Northeast China Plain has caused the river to

meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the Channel (geography), channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erosion, erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank (cut bank, cut bank or river cl ...

over time, filling the wide plain with oxbow lakes, as remnants of the previous paths of the river.

Geography

The Songhua rises south of Heaven Lake, near the

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

border. From there it flows north, to be interrupted by the Baishan, Hongshi and Fengman

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

dams. The Fengman Dam forms a lake that stretches for . Below the dam, the Second Songhua flows north through

, then northwest until it is joined by its largest tributary, the Nen River, near Da'an, to create the Songhua proper. The Songhua turns east through

Harbin Harbin, ; zh, , s=哈尔滨, t=哈爾濱, p=Hā'ěrbīn; IPA: . is the capital of Heilongjiang, China. It is the largest city of Heilongjiang, as well as being the city with the second-largest urban area, urban population (after Shenyang, Lia ...

, and after the city, it is joined from the south by the Ashi River, and then by the Hulan River from the north. A new dam was constructed in 2007 near Bayan (50 km northeast of

), creating the Dadingshan Reservoir, which is named after the scenic area on the south bank (). The river flows onward through Jiamusi and south of the Lesser Xing'an Range, to eventually join the Amur at Tongjiang, Heilongjiang. The river freezes from late November until March. It has its highest flows when the mountain snow melts during the spring thaw. The river is navigable up to Harbin by medium-sized ships. Smaller craft can navigate the Songhua up to

and the Nen River up to Qiqihar. Cities along the river include: *

* Jiamusi

History

In November 2005, the river was contaminated with benzene, leading to a shutdown of Harbin's water supply. The spill stretched and eventually reached the Amur (Heilong) River on the China–Russia border. On July 28, 2010, several thousand barrels from two chemical plants in China's Jilin City were washed away by

floods A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, 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 con ...

. Some of them contained of explosive material like trimethylsilyl chloride and

hexamethyldisiloxane Hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO or MM) is an organosilicon compound with the formula O i(CH3)3. This volatile colourless liquid is used as a solvent and as a reagent in organic synthesis. It is prepared by the hydrolysis of trimethylsilyl chlori ...

.Defence lines were opened in attempt to intercept the barrels with chemicals
RIA Novosti, 30.07.2010 In 2016, the part near the city of Jilin was affected by a minor flood.

References

{{Authority control Rivers of Heilongjiang Rivers of Jilin Geography of Harbin Jilin City Geography of Yanbian

Geography

History

See also

References