MIN RIVER

WadeGiles romanization Min Chiang, Pinyin Min Jiang, river in Fukien sheng (province), China. The Min River and its various tributaries rise in the mountains of the FukienKiangsi border area and flow to the sea across the grain of the southwest to northeast mountain ranges that cross the province; this flowage results in a trellislike drainage pattern, with lateral tributaries following the direction of the valleys. The name Min, though commonly applied to the whole system, properly applies only to the lower course of the river below Nan-p'ing, where it cuts through the coastal ranges. Above this are the headwatersthe Fu-t'un and Chin rivers, which flow from the western mountain rangesand two tributaries that drain the major interior valley basin of the province, the Sha River (flowing from the southwest through Yung-an and San-ming) and the Chien River system (flowing from the northern mountains on the KiangsiChekiang border). The river's total length is 358 miles (577 km), and the area of its drainage basin is 21,600 square miles (56,000 square km). The Min River was formerly of little use for navigation, though its upper tributaries above Nan-p'ing carried considerable junk traffic. In the 1950s the lower course of the river entering the East China Sea below Fu-chou was cleared for navigation of small ships up to 80 tons. Since 1957, however, a railway system has provided a link between the central valley and the coastal ports of Amoy and Fu-chou; Nan-p'ing and San-ming have therefore become transshipment points at which river-borne goods are loaded onto the railway.