The Yangtze RiverThe Yangtze River, or Chang Jiang, is the longest river in China and Asia, and the third-longest in the world, after the Nile in Africa and the Amazon in South America.The river is about 6,380 km long and flows from its source in Qinghai Province, eastwards into the East China Sea at Shanghai. It is considered by some people as a dividing line between North and South China, although geographers generally consider the Qinling-Huai River line to be the official line of geographical division. As the largest river in the region, the Yangtze is historically, culturally, and economically important to China. One of the dams on the river, the Three Gorges Dam, is the largest hydro-electric power station in the world.The name Yangtze River, as well as various similar names such as Yangtse River, Yangzi River, Yangtze Kiang, etc., is derived from Yangzi Jiang, which, beginning in the Sui Dynasty, was the Chinese name for the river in its lower reaches, specifically, the stretch between Yangzhou and Zhenjiang. The name comes from the ancient ferry crossing Yangzi Jin (meaning "Yangzi Crossing"). From the Ming Dynasty, the name was sometimes written 洋子 (yángz?). Because it was the name first heard by missionaries and traders, this name was applied in English to the whole river. In Chinese, Yangzi Jiang is considered a historical or poetic name for the river. The modern Chinese name, Chang Jiang, literally means "long river" and may sometimes also be used in English. It is also known to many as the 'Main Street' of China.Like many rivers, the river is known by different names over its course. At its source, it is called in Chinese the Dangqu. Downstream, it is called the Tuotuo River and then the Tongtian River. Where it runs through deep gorges parallel to the Mekong and the Salween before emerging onto the plains of Sichuan, it is known as the Jinsha River.The first turn of the Yangtze at Shigu, Yunnan Province, where the river turns 180 degrees from south- to north-bound. Yangtze watershedThe Yangtze was earlier known to the Chinese as simply Jiang (Jiāng), which has become a generic name meaning "river", or the Da Jiang. The Tibetan name for the river is Drichu. The Yangtze is sometimes referred to as the Golden Waterway.