A Centuries-Old Question
For much of history, the origin of the Yangtze River, Asia's longest, remained a puzzle. Early beliefs, held until the Ming Dynasty (14th-17th Century), incorrectly identified the Min River in Sichuan as the source. The scholar and explorer Xu Xiake was the first to correctly trace the upper reaches to the Jinsha River. Geographers during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) pushed the understanding further, identifying the Tongtian River which flows into the Jinsha. However, the extreme altitude and harsh conditions of the Tibetan Plateau prevented explorers from reaching the ultimate headwaters. The river's true beginning, hidden amongst forbidding peaks and glaciers, was a blank spot on the map. The various sections of the upper river had different local names—the Tuotuo, the Tongtian, and the Jinsha—which added to the difficulty of identifying a single, continuous primary channel.
The 1976 Expedition and the Glacial Verdict
In July 1976, a scientific expedition sanctioned by the Chinese government set out to definitively solve the mystery. The team ventured deep into the Tanggula Mountains in a remote part of Qinghai province. Their work confirmed that the Tuotuo River is the main headstream. The ultimate source was traced to meltwater from the Jianggendiru Glacier, located on the southwestern side of the Geladaindong Peak. This high-altitude point, nearly 5,500 meters above sea level, is where the first drops of the Yangtze begin their 6,300-kilometer flow to the East China Sea. The massif of Geladaindong itself stands at a formidable 6,621 meters (21,722 ft) and is surrounded by more than 20 peaks that exceed 6,000 meters. The expedition's findings established the river's total length at approximately 6,380 kilometers, confirming its status as the third-longest river in the world, after the Nile and the Amazon. While this source is traditionally accepted, later expeditions using satellite imagery have proposed an even longer source at the head of the Dam Qu tributary.
The source region is a fragile, high-altitude ecosystem. Despite an environment where the oxygen is only about half that at sea level, it supports a surprising amount of life. The area is a habitat for rare species like the snow leopard, Tibetan antelope, wild yaks, and black-necked cranes.