Plunging from the Tibetan plateau, the Yangtze river or Chang Jiang “the Long River” in Chinese, is China’s longest river, and the third longest in the world, flowing 6,300 kilometres across the country to finally empty its waters in the East China Sea above Shanghai. The navigable section, however, only starts in Chongqing, the chief industrial city in south-western China with a population of 30 million. Constrained by a very hilly peninsula marking the meeting of the Yangtze and Jialing rivers, the city is unique in China in not having a single bicycle on its streets, and tends to be very foggy all year round. If it is sunny for three days in a row, it makes news. 🙂 Continue reading →