Min River (Fujian)

The Min River (simplified Chinese: 闽江; traditional Chinese: 閩江; pinyin: Mǐn Jiāng; Foochow Romanized: Mìng-gĕ̤ng; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Bân-kang; Kienning Colloquial Romanized: Ma̿ing-gó̤ng) is a 577 kilometres (359 mi)-long river in Fujian province, People's Republic of China. It is the largest river in Fujian, and an important water transport channel. Most of northern and central Fujian is within its drainage area.

Min River
Native name	(simplified Chinese: 闽江; traditional Chinese: 閩江; pinyin: Mǐn Jiāng)  (Chinese)
Physical characteristics
Mouth
• location	East China Sea
Length	577 km (359 mi)
Basin size	60,922 km^2 (23,522 sq mi)
Discharge
• average	1,980 m^3/s (70,000 cu ft/s)
Basin features
Tributaries
• left	Renshou, Jianxi and tributaries
• right	Xixi, Jinxi, Shaxi, Youxi, Dazhang

Min River (闽江）in Nanping (南平). Railway bridge (闽江铁路大桥) at the back.

The provincial capital, Fuzhou, sits on the lower Min River, with its historic center being on the northern side of the river, even closer to its fall into the East China Sea; the location historically made it an important port.

Alternate Source

The source of the Min River is generally regarded as the Futun Brook in the far northwest of the basin, for a total length of 577km. However, the furthest geographic source is actually the Suixi Brook by 12.5km over the Bexi/Futun. The Suixi Brook is also the largest fork of the Jinxi River, which carries more water that the Futun at the point where the two meet. So although the generally accepted source is the Bexi Brook, in reality the Suixi is both the geographic and hydrological source of the Minjiang.

See also

• List of rivers in China
• Min River (disambiguation) - for other rivers with the same name

References

1.  Fujian Local Records Compilation Committee. (2001). Fujian Provincial Chronicles: Topography. Fuzhou: Local Records Press