Hukou Waterfalls, "Nine Curves and Eighteen Bends," all these magnificent landscapes belong to the Yellow River, which is the second-longest river in China. Dubbed the "Mother River" of Chinese people, the river basin was the cradle of Chinese civilization.

The Yellow River gets its name from the color of the water. Its yellowness comes from the immense amount of silt that it carries all the way from the Loess Plateau. Due to a series of geography and human activities, the Yellow River has been experiencing problems including soil erosion and frequent flooding, leading people at time to describe the river as "China's Sorrow."

From 1949 till now, the Chinese government has launched a series of preservation projects as a part of its strategy to ease the environmental problems along the river. Generations of workers, researchers from provincial areas where the Yellow River flows through, including Shaanxi, Shanxi and Gansu participated, bringing up facilities including Samenxia Dam and Xiaolangdi Dam for flood control and hydroelectric power. Nature reserves including Sanjiangyuan National Park were also built in order to provide better protection for the biodiversity along the river.

In 2021, the government approved the Yellow River Basin Ecological Protection and Environmental Pollution Control Program, and released an outline for the Yellow River Basin's protection and development through 2030. It includes accurate measures and targets to support environmental protection, water conservation and urban planning along the river. Under the program, China will improve the basin's environment and its water conservation capabilities, and complete modern flood control and a disaster reduction system.

For more: 

Songhua River: Red-crowned cranes dancing over the river

Liaohe River: Regaining clean water with conservation efforts

Haihe River: Conserving water in a densely-populated region

(Cover image via CFP)

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