The Daling River (Chinese: ; pinyin: Dàlíng Hé) is a river in Northeast China. With a length of 435 kilometres (270 mi), it is the main river in the arid western part of Liaoning.[1] Its drainage basin covers 23,837 square kilometres (9,204 sq mi), 85% of which is located in Liaoning, 13% in Inner Mongolia and the remaining 2% in Hebei.[2]

Daling River
Map
Native name大凌河 (Chinese)
Location
CountryChina
Provinces/Autonomous RegionsLiaoning, Inner Mongolia, Hebei
CitiesLingyuan, Chaoyang, Yixian, Linghai
Physical characteristics
SourceShuiquan Creek
 • locationWukunzhangzi, Yaolugou, Jianchang, Huludao, Liaoning
 • coordinates40°34′01″N 119°26′09″E / 40.5669°N 119.4359°E / 40.5669; 119.4359
2nd sourceQuanzi Creek
 • locationSongyingzi, Yushulingzi, Pingquan, Chengde, Hebei
 • coordinates41°15′35″N 119°02′24″E / 41.2596°N 119.0401°E / 41.2596; 119.0401
MouthLiaodong Bay
 • location
southeast of Linghai, Liaoning
 • coordinates
40°51′30″N 121°33′18″E / 40.8584°N 121.5550°E / 40.8584; 121.5550
Length435 km (270 mi)
Basin size23,837 km2 (9,204 sq mi)
Basin features
Tributaries 
 • leftLaohushan River, Mangniu River, Xi River
WaterbodiesBaishi Reservoir

Course

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The Daling River has two sources. The southern source is Shuiquan Creek (水泉沟) in the village of Wukunzhangzi (吴坤杖子) in Jianchang County, Liaoning. The northern source is Quanzi Creek (泉子沟) in the village of Songyingzi (宋营子) in Pingquan, Hebei. The two source streams meet at Dachengzi, Kazuo County, Liaoning.[3] From there the river flows northeast past the city of Chaoyang into Baishi Reservoir, where it receives Mangniu River (牤牛河) from the north. Baishi Reservoir is Liaoning's third largest reservoir with a capacity of 1.645 cubic kilometres (0.395 cu mi). The reservoir was built on the Daling River between 1995 and 2001, primarily for flood control purposes, and secondarily to supply water to nearby urban and agricultural areas.[4] At Baishi Reservoir the river turns southeast, passing the towns of Yixian and Linghai before entering Liaodong Bay in the Bohai Sea.[1]

History and toponymy

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The Neolithic Hongshan culture flourished in the Daling River basin between 4500 and 3000 BCE, as evidenced at sites such as Niuheliang and Dongshanzui.[5] The river was known as Bailangshui (白狼水) in the Han and Tang dynasties. It became known as the Ling River (灵河) in the Liao dynasty, which was rewritten as 凌河 in the Jin.[6] Later it acquired the modifier "great" (大) to distinguish it from the "little" Ling River (小凌河) to its southwest.

References

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  1. ^ a b Pei Liang; Liu Yang; Chen Chen (2017). "大凌河流域土地利用/覆被变化及其对气候变化的响应研究" [Land Use/Cover Change and Its Impact on Climate Change Response in the Daling River Basin]. Scientia Geographica Sinica (in Chinese). 37 (9): 1403–1410.
  2. ^ Kou Zhenyi (2017). "大凌河源头区域水文特性分析". 水土保持应用技术 (in Chinese) (2): 44–45.
  3. ^ Gao Suli (2011). "大凌河流域河道生态治理方案" [Ecological management scheme of Daling River Basin]. 水土保持应用技术 (in Chinese) (5): 20–22.
  4. ^ Guo Feng (2013). "论白石水库工程对生态环境的影响". Education Teaching Forum (in Chinese) (51): 133–134.
  5. ^ Peterson, Christian E.; Lu Xueming; Drennan, Robert D.; Zhu Da (2014). Hongshan Regional Organization in the Upper Daling Valley. Center for Comparative Archaeology. pp. 1–12. ISBN 9781877812934.
  6. ^ "大凌河". Chinese National Geography. Archived from the original on July 19, 2012. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
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