The cradle of Chinese civilisation, named for the vast load of yellow silt it carries.
Length
5,464 km
Source
Bayan Har Mountains, Tibetan Plateau
Mouth
Bohai Sea
Continent
Asia
Countries
China
Did you know?
So much silt settles on the riverbed that in places the Yellow River flows above the surrounding plain, held in by levees.
Little-known fact
Its catastrophic floods earned it the grim nickname 'China's Sorrow' — one 1931 flood was among the deadliest natural disasters in history.
Highlights
- Cradle of Chinese civilisation
- Flows above its own floodplain in places
- Nicknamed 'China's Sorrow'
Life in the Yellow River (Huang He)
The fish and animals, waterbirds and water plants — including some of the rarest — that this water supports.
Waterbirds
Common kingfisher
A dazzling blue-and-orange dart that plunges from a perch to spear fish in an instant.
Grey heron
A patient, statue-still angler that stalks the shallows of rivers and lakes across the Old World.
Water plants & reeds
Sacred lotus
A revered Asian water plant whose leaves are so water-repellent that dirt rolls straight off them.
Common reed
The tall, feathery grass that forms the vast reedbeds fringing rivers and lakes, sheltering countless birds.
Interactive · 3D journey
Journey of a river · source → sea
Every river runs the same great journey — from an icy mountain spring, down through gorges and looping meanders, to a wide delta where it meets the sea. Tap a stage to follow the water downstream.
Tip: hover to tilt the valley · tap a stage to float downstream
The Source
Every river begins high up — in a mountain spring, a melting glacier or a boggy upland. The water is cold, clear and fast, tumbling down the steepest ground of its whole journey.
Landforms here