the Yangtze River
HSK level
长江 is written with 10 strokes (长: 4, 江: 6). The animation replays automatically.
长江 (Cháng Jiāng) is the Chinese name for the Yangtze River, the longest river in China and Asia, flowing roughly 6,300 kilometers from the Tibetan Plateau eastward through cities like Chongqing, Wuhan, and Nanjing to Shanghai and the East China Sea.
Literally 'long river,' it is a proper noun and a major geographic and cultural landmark, home to the Three Gorges (三峡) and the Three Gorges Dam. English speakers should note that the English name 'Yangtze' comes only from a small downstream stretch; the standard Chinese name everywhere is 长江.
It is often paired with 黄河 (the Yellow River) as the two great rivers cradling Chinese civilization. Neutral in register, it appears in geography lessons, travel talk, and idioms about the river's flow.
Note: A proper noun, so both syllables are capitalized in pinyin. Neutral in register; common in geography, history, and everyday reference to the river.
Character by character
Memory hook: 长 (long) + 江 (great river): the long river — the Yangtze.
长江是中国最长的河。
Cháng Jiāng shì Zhōngguó zuì cháng de hé.
The Yangtze is China's longest river.
neutral
我们坐船游览了长江三峡。
Wǒmen zuòchuán yóulǎnle Cháng Jiāng Sānxiá.
We took a boat to tour the Three Gorges of the Yangtze.
neutral
很多大城市都在长江边上。
Hěn duō dà chéngshì dōu zài Cháng Jiāng biān shàng.
Many big cities are along the Yangtze.
neutral
长江和黄河都是中国的母亲河。
Cháng Jiāng hé Huáng Hé dōu shì Zhōngguó de mǔqīnhé.
Both the Yangtze and the Yellow River are China's mother rivers.
written
黄河 is the Yellow River, China's second-longest and its northern cradle of civilization. 长江 is the Yangtze in the center-south. They are often mentioned together but are different rivers.
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