Rising in the Tanggula Mountains in west-central China, the Yangtze River flows southeast before turning northeast and then generally east across south-central and east-central China to the East China Sea near Shanghai. It is the world’s third longest river, 6,300 km long.

Several large cities, including Shanghai, Nanjing, Wuhan, and Chongqing, lie in the river’s basin, which is known as the granary of China. Large ships can sail to Wuhan, and smaller vessels can reach Yichang; it becomes harder to navigate above Yichang because of the gorges that occur between Chongqing and Yichang. Work on the Three Gorges Dam project was inaugurated in 1993; the dam was completed in 2006. Located west of Yichang, it will enable freighters to navigate 2,250 km inland from the East China Sea to Chongqing.