HSIANG RIVER

Wade-Giles romanization Hsiang Chiang, Pinyin Xiang Jiang, river in Hunan province, China. With a total length of 500 miles (800 km), the Hsiang is one of the principal tributaries of the Yangtze River. The Hsiang rises in the mountains in the northern part of the Kwangsi Chuang Autonomous Region and flows northeast into Hunan province. At Ling-ling it is joined by the Hsiao River, which drains the Hunan-Kwangsi border mountains, and it then flows east, to be joined by the Lei River, flowing from the Kwangtung border, at Heng-yang. The river then turns north, passing Ch'ang-sha, and flows into Tung-t'ing Lake and thence into the Yangtze. It is joined by the Lu River at Chu-chou and by the Lien River, its chief western tributary, below Hsiang-t'an. The Hsiang River is an important waterway and was the chief artery of communications for the province until the completion of the railway in the 1930s. Large vessels from the Yangtze can reach as far as Ch'ang-sha via the Hsiang River. Small steamboats can reach Hsiang-t'an, and junks can reach Heng-yang. At high water, junks can reach Ling-ling. This waterway provided one of the chief routes between central China and Kwangtung and Kwangsi throughout historical times and is still usable, though now largely superseded by the railway.