ABSTRACT
The Yellow River genuinely is a river like no other. Originating in the high mountains, rain and snow melt provide a year long base fl ow that runs down through arid lands where the unusual Loess Plateau geography means that when the rains do come the fl ood washes off vast quantities of sand and silt and the river carries more sediment across the wide fl at NE China plain and into the sea than any other river on earth. The challenges for people living in the Yellow River valley are the need to build and continuously maintain complex irrigation and fl ood protection systems and the constant threats of the river fl ooding and dropping massive loads of sediments that can bury whole cities and result in the river dramatically changing course and direction. Only an organized society can survive under these pressures. When managed well the Yellow River valley can be a place of plenty in the midst of harsh lands. For these reasons the Yellow River valley has long been at the center of China’s political, economic, and social development. The dual nature of the river has resulted in the simultaneous use of the phrases “the cradle of Chinese civilization” and “China’s sorrow” to describe the Yellow River.
