Chinese Chang Jiang or Ch'ang Chiang
River, China.
Rising in the eastern Kunlun Mountains in western China, it flows southeast, continuing east across Yunnan province and then across the rest of south-central China to the East China Sea near Shanghai . It is known as the Chongqing , at 650 ft (200 m), and Yichang, at 130 ft (40 m). Its chief tributaries are the Yalong , Min , Jialing, Han , and Wu rivers. Several large cities, including Shanghai, {{link=Nanjing">Nanjing , Wuhan , and Chongqing, lie in the river's basin, which is known as the granary of China. The controversial Three Gorges Dam Project , first discussed in the 1920s and promoted in the 1950s by Mao Zedong , was inaugurated in 1994. Located west of Yichang, it will enable freighters to navigate 1,400 mi (2,250 km) inland from the East China Sea to Chongqing.