River, east-central China.
A principal tributary of the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang), it has a total length of about 750 mi (1,200 km). It rises in the mountains in southwestern Shaanxi province; known by various names in its upper course, it becomes the Han at Hanzhong and flows through a fertile basin some 60 mi (100 km) long and 12 mi (19 km) wide, then cuts through a series of deep gorges and emerges into the central Yangtze basin in Hubei province. Its lower course forms a dense network of water transport covering the southern part of the North China Plain.