From an underdeveloped nation in 1949, to the world’s second largest economy today, China has come a long way and is still changing at an unprecedented speed.

Now on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the founding of People’s Republic of China, CGTN embarks on a journey to look at what changes have been taking place at a region that has symbolic importance to the Chinese: the Yellow River basin.

Known as China’s mother river, the Yellow River originates from the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau and flows through nine provinces before emptying itself into the Bohai sea. Starting from August 26, CGTN reporters Cui Hui’ao, Xu Mengqi and Zhao Yunfei take you through each of the nine provinces in our special series “Tales along the Yellow River”.

For her leg of the journey, CGTN’s Xu Mengqi visited Qinghai, Gansu, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Shaanxi and Shanxi in the upper and middle reaches of the Yellow River and shares with us her thoughts and discoveries.