Liao River

The Liao River is a big river. It is in China. It flows through many lands. People call it a mother river. This river is very important. It flows through dusty soil. This makes the water look thick. The river divides a large land into two parts. One part is to the east. The other part is to the west. It is a special place to see.

The Liao River is a main river in Northeast China. It flows through the Liaoning province. People call it the "mother river" of this area. The river divides the land into two parts. One part is Liaodong, which is to the east. The other part is Liaoxi, which is to the west.

The river starts when two big streams meet. One stream is the Xiliao River. It comes from the west. The other is the Dongliao River. It comes from the east. The Liao River flows south through a large plain. It carries a lot of sediment. This is fine, powdery soil called loess. This soil makes the water very thick.

In the past, the river had two paths at its end. This area was called the Liao River Delta. It flowed into the Bohai Sea. In 1958, people built a project to stop floods. They blocked one path to protect the city of Yingkou. This changed how the water flows. Now, the river has only one main path to the sea. The old paths are now part of a different water system.

The Liao River is a very important river in southern Northeast China. It is one of the seven main river systems in the whole country. People in the region often call it the "mother river." The name comes from the Liao region, which is a historical name for southern Manchuria. This name is also used for the Liaoning province and the Liao dynasty. The river acts as a big landmark for the land. It divides the Liaoning province into two parts named Liaodong and Liaoxi.

To understand how the river forms, we look at two main streams. The first is the Xiliao River, which comes from the west. It flows through Inner Mongolia and joins the Xar Moron and Laoha rivers. The second is the Dongliao River, which comes from the east. Most of this stream flows through the Jilin Province. These two big streams meet near the borders of Liaoning, Jilin, and Inner Mongolia. This meeting point creates the main Liao River. After this, the river flows south through the Northeast China Plain.

Long ago, the river looked different at its end. It used to split into two paths to reach the sea. This area was called the Liao River Delta. One path was the Shuangtaizi River, and the other was the Wailiao River. The river carried a lot of sediment, which is fine soil. Much of this soil is called loess, which is very powdery. Because the land was so low and flat, the river could change its path often. This made it very hard to control floods.

In 1958, people worked to solve the flooding problem. They started a large river engineering project. They blocked the water near a place called Liujianfang. This project moved the water flow away from the old Wailiao River. Instead, the water was sent entirely toward the Shuangtaizi River. Because of this, the river no longer has two paths. The Hun River and Taizi River are now part of a different water system. They are no longer tributaries of the Liao River.

Even though the paths changed, the river is still a vital part of life. The river carries a lot of sediment through the landscape. Many smaller streams, like the Sutai and Qing rivers, join it along the way. The area near the mouth of the river is still called the Liao River Delta. This region sits near the Liaodong Bay in the Bohai Sea. The river helps define the geography of the entire Northeast China Plain. It remains a central part of the land and its history.

The Liao River is a major waterway in southern Northeast China. It is one of the seven primary river systems in the country. Many people in the region call it the "mother river" due to its importance. The name comes from the historical Liao region of southern Manchuria. This name also provides the basis for the Liaoning province and the Liao dynasty. The river serves as a significant geographical boundary. It divides the Liaoning province into two distinct regions. These areas are known as Liaodong, meaning "east of Liao," and Liaoxi, meaning "west of Liao."

To understand the river, we must look at its two main tributaries. The Xiliao River, or Western Liao River, flows from the west. It drains a massive catchment basin of 310,000 square kilometers. This tributary forms when the Laoha River and Xar Moron River meet in Inner Mongolia. Later, the Xinkai River joins it to strengthen the flow. The second major part is the Dongliao River, or Eastern Liao River. It drains 150,000 square kilometers and has 88 tributaries. Most of its length, over 80 percent, is located in Jilin Province. These two rivers meet near the borders of Liaoning, Jilin, and Inner Mongolia to form the Liao River proper.

The main Liao River then flows south through the Northeast China Plain. It receives many smaller tributaries like the Sutai, Qing, and Chai rivers. As it moves, it sometimes earns the nickname Juliu River, which means "giant stream river." The river carries an extremely high sediment load. This is because much of the river flows through powdery loess. Loess is a very fine, wind-blown soil. This heavy sediment makes the water carry a lot of solid material. The river's path is shaped by this constant movement of soil.

Historically, the end of the river was very different. The river used to split into two separate paths. This area was known as the Liao River Delta. One path was the Shuangtaizi River, which was originally smaller. The other path was the Wailiao River, or Outer Liao River. The Wailiao River was the main body of the lower river. It collected the Hun and Taizi rivers at a place called the "Trident River." This confluence then formed the Daliao River, which flowed into the Liaodong Bay. The delta had a flat topography made of soft sediment.

This flat landscape created serious problems for the people living nearby. The river's waterways were meandrous, meaning they twisted and turned constantly. Because the land was so low, storm surges from the sea could easily cause flooding. This was a major threat to the city of Yingkou. Yingkou is located near the mouth of the Daliao River and has 2 million people. To solve this, engineers started a massive project in 1958. They blocked the upriver section of the Wailiao River at Liujianfang. This engineering work redirected all the water toward the Shuangtaizi River.

This change fundamentally altered the region's water systems. Since 1958, the Liao River no longer has two distributaries. The Shuangtaizi River was renamed the "Liao River" in 2011. Because the Wailiao flow was cut off, the Hun and Taizi rivers are no longer tributaries. They are now considered part of an independent water system. The term "Liao River Delta" is still used today. However, it now refers to the area between the Liao River and the Daliao River. The river system is much more controlled than it was in the past.

The former tributaries of the Liao River were once very large. The Hun River was once the second largest tributary. It flows through Shenyang, the largest city in Northeast China. The river is often muddy due to its fast flow and high sediment. The Taizi River was once the third largest tributary. It flows through important industrial areas like Anshan and Liaoyang. It is also famous for the Benxi Water Caves. Although these rivers are now independent, they remain vital to the geography of southern Liaoning.