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Having raced out of Sichuan through the narrow Three Gorges, the Yangzi widens, slows down, and loops through its flatter, low-lying middle reaches, fed and swelled by lesser streams and rivers which drain off the highlands surrounding the four provinces of the Yangzi basin - Anhui , Hubei , Hunan and Jiangxi . As a key route for trade and transport, the river (known in China as the Changjiang ) has made the region a centre of development and habitation throughout Chinese history. In the thirteenth century, Marco Polo was overawed by the "innumerable cities and towns along its banks, and the amount of shipping it carries, and the bulk of merchandise that merchants transport by it"; and while surrounding paddy fields have formed the backbone of central China's grain and rice production since the Ming era, a network of modern hydroelectric dams under construction in the middle reaches are the first stage towards building a local industrial economy to rival that of the east coast. Visitors to the region tend to gravitate towards the Yangzi's domineering presence, undertaking lengthy cruises between Sichuan and Shanghai, and sightseeing along the shores of China's two largest freshwater lakes: Dongting , which both separates and twins Hunan and Hubei, and Poyang , in northern Jiangxi, famed for porcelain produced at nearby Jingdezhen . Riverside towns are also interesting working ports and many, such as Wuhu in Anhui, are historical centres of commerce where it's still possible to see traditional river industries - fish farming, grain, rice and bamboo transport - existing alongside newer ventures in manufacturing. Strangely enough, while all four regional capitals are located near water, only Wuhan , in Hubei, is actually on the Yangzi itself, a privileged position which has turned the city into central China's liveliest urban conglomeration. By contrast, the other provincial capitals - Changsha in Hunan, Anhui's Hefei and Jiangxi's Nanchang - seem somewhat dishevelled, though all are more interesting than they might at first appear, with a scattering of worthwhile sites and museums to visit. The region's long settlement has left a good deal of history in its wake, though most relics that have survived the basin's many upheavals are footnotes to China's past rather than part of a coherent narrative. While some items - Warring States bronzework and a number of well-preserved Han-dynasty tombs - might seem dustily academic, Ming-dynasty architecture scattered across Anhui and Jiangxi is still very much in use, and almost everywhere you'll stumble over sites from the epic of the Three Kingdoms , making the tale essential background reading. The Yangzi basin can also fairly claim to be the cradle of modern China : Mao Zedong was born in Hunan Province; Changsha, Wuhan and Nanchang are all closely associated with Communist Party history; while the mountainous border between Hunan and Jiangxi was both a Red refuge during right-wing purges in the late 1920s and the starting point for the subsequent Long March to Shaanxi. Those able to pull themselves away from the river will find some marvellous hiking through forested peaks around the regional fringes, the pick of which is undoubtedly at Huang Shan in southern Anhui, followed by Hubei's remote Shennongjia Forest Reserve , and Zhangjiajie in Hunan's far west. Pilgrims also have a wide choice of Buddhist and Taoist holy mountains to scale on seemingly unending stone-flagged staircases, and less dedicated souls can find eagle views at the mountain resort town of Lu Shan in Jiangxi. Deciding when to visit the flood-prone Yangzi basin is vital if you plan to abandon river transport and head off across the plains. In theory, getting around isn't a problem, with rail lines from all over China crossing the region, and a choice of cheap old buses and swifter, pricier minibuses linking cities to the remotest of corners. Autumn is probably the most pleasant time of year, though even winters are generally mild, but the summer (June to August) is best avoided, with humidity and near-constant rains making the region resemble a subtropical Netherlands without the dykes. In 1954, flooding along the Yangzi killed three million people, while in 1998, the worst floods in living memory claimed only three thousand lives but wiped out entire villages, isolated cities and destroyed millions of hectares of crops.
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