Huai river

The Huai River ((Chinese, 淮河; pinyin, Huái Hé) is a long Asian river located between the Yangtze and Yellow rivers that crosses the People's Republic of China from west to east.

However, not all of its course is in the direction of the sea, which makes it very vulnerable to flooding. It is considered, along with the Yangtze, the river that divides China into North and South. It is 1,100 kilometers long and has a river basin of 174,000 km².

History

The Huai flowed into the sea all the way. However, in 1191 the Yellow River suffered a variation in its course that directed it further south, interrupting the path of the Huai. The Yellow River changed course several times over the next 700 years. The impact of the sediments left behind by these variations was so strong that, when the Yellow River was last modified in 1897, the Huai He no longer followed its natural course. Instead, it is now dammed up near Hongze Lake and continues south towards the Yangzi. This unusual course makes the river highly prone to flooding.

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