The Yangtze River is China's longest river and the third longest in the world, after the Nile in Africa and the Amazon in South America. Snaking 6,300 kilometers (3,720 miles) from Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in western China into the East China Sea, the Yangtze stretches eleven provinces and municipality with the drainage area of 1.8 million square kilometers. The headstream of the Yangtze is Tuojiang River from snowy mountains of Tanggula Range. It has the more than 700 tributaries. Winding downstream from the west to the east in the mainland, the part after Yichang City is called Changjiang River, and the part after Yangzhou City was originally named the Yangtze River. Now, the Yangtze is used to represent the whole river in English, while in Chinese, the river is named Changjiang, meaning a very long river.

The drainage of the Yangtze is the most populous and prosperous area in China. The middle reach is famed as Abundant Land, and the lower reach the Land Flowing with Milk and Honey. The Yangtze is another cradle of Chinese civilization. Along the river, there are standing many cities of Chongqing, Wuhan, Nanjing, Shanghai, which with economic, cultural and historical importance. Besides, the Yangtze has enormous and inexhaustible hydroelectric resources, totally reaching 200 million kilowatt. As the navigable water in main trunk is as long as 2,800 kilometer, the Yangtze is well known as the Golden Channel.

The Upper Reaches begins from the headstream in Qinghai Province to Yichang City in Hubei Province and flow the length of 4,529 kilometers. It is the most attractive section of the Yangtze, famous for its breathtaking mountains, imposing ravines, turbulent rapids and charming landscape. The world famous Three Gorges and the Three Gorges Project are in this section.

The Middle Reaches is from Yichang City to Hukou City at the mouth of Poyang Lake in Jiangxi Province, with the length of 927 kilometers. Once entera into the second section, the current slows down and the river becomes wider. This region features plain area with many lakes, among which the Dongting and the Poyang are the two largest ones.

The Lower Reaches is from Hukou to the mouth and 844 kilometers in length. The area is featured by flat delta plain, the crisscrossed canals and waterways as well as the serene waterside villages in south China. In this section, the water is very deep and the river wider. The area is fertile and populous, with the Yangtze River Delta the most economic developed area in China.

The rain season begins in April, bringing heavy rainfall to the middle and lower reaches. In addition, the main flood season is from June to August in summer. Generally speaking, the Yangtze enters it dry season in November.