SANG-KAN RIVER

WadeGiles romanization Sang Kan Ho, Pin-yin Sang Gan He river in Shansi and Hopeh provinces, China. The Sang-kan River rises just south of Ning-wu, near the Great Wall of China, on the eastern slope of the Kuan-ts'en Shan (mountains), in northern Shansi. After flowing northeast in a trough running parallel to the strike of the Heng Shan, it turns southeast near Hsan-hua (Hopeh) to emerge into the North China Plain in the Peking area. The Sang-kan flows south of Peking to Tientsin, where it flows into the Hai Ho, which empties into the Gulf of Chihli (Po Hai), a large gulf of the Yellow Sea. Its total length is about 190 mi (300 km), and its drainage area is approximately 18,500 sq mi (48,000 sq km). The name Sang-kan is given to the river in its upper course, where it flows across the dry plateau of northern Shansi. Its lower course was originally known colloquially as the Wu-ting Ho (River with No Fixed Course) because it was constantly subject to flooding and to changes of channel. It was given the name Yung-ting Ho (River with a Permanently Fixed Course) toward the end of the 17th century, when extensive flood control works were undertaken. Further flood control measures were undertaken in 1698, 1726, 1751, and during the 19th century. The river has always carried an enormous silt load, which has silted up the channel as fast as it could be cleared. In the early 1950s the river was dammed in the mountains northwest of Peking by the Kuan-t'ing Dam, a hydroelectric, irrigation, and flood control project. Flooding has also been relieved by the construction of various waterways as part of the Hai Ho conservancy project.