PearlRiver

The Pearl River is one of the largest rivers in the south and among the seven major rivers of the Yangtze, the Yellow, the Huaihe, the Haihe, the Songhua and the Liaohe Rivers in China.

The Pearl River is composed of the West, the North, the East Rivers and the Pearl River Delta waterway network with a catchment area of 453 700 km2. Converging in the Pearl River Delta, the West, the North and the East Rivers are interlaced into a waterway network system with water channels totaling 1 740 km in length and an area of 10,0000 km2, and then empty into the South China Sea through eight outlets namely humen, Jiaomen, Hongqimen, Hengmen, Modaomen, Jitimen, Hutiaomen and Yamen.

The West River, main stem of the Pearl River, rises from the Maxiong Mountain in Qujing City, Yunnan Province. From the source it goes under the name of Nanpan River, Hongshui River, QianJiang River, Xunjiang River and West River in succession, running through Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi and Guangdong provinces (autonomous regions). After connecting with the North River at Sixiaojian in Sanshui County of Guangdong Province, the West River flows to the delta waterway network with its main course emptying into the South China sea through Modaomen outlet in Zhuhai City. The length of the West River is 2,274 km and its catchment area is 353,100 km2, making up 78% of the valley’s total.

Located in the subtropical zone with the Five Ridges to the north, the South China Sea to the south, theYunnan-Guizhou Plateau in the west, the Guangxi Hillyland and basins in the centre and the delta alluvial plain in the southeast, the Pearl River Valley has favorable natural conditions. Topographically, it is high in northwest and low in southeast. It has a warm and wet climate with annual mean temperature of 18℃, precipitation 1 470 mm and humidity 77%. In most areas in the river valley, there are picturesque scenery, rich products and spring-like weather all year round. Along the rivers in the Pearl River Valley, mines of coal, aluminum, tungsten，tin and ferric sulfide exist, and commercial and industrial cities such as Guangzhou and Nanning, especially cities of Shenzhen, Zhuhai listed in the special economic zones, have been developed very fast for the last years that contribute to the boost of the local economy.